Wild Horses
by RobertDogwood
Summary: Quistis transfers to Trabia Garden. Squall is sent on a secret mission.
1. Chapter 1

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robertdogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter One

The day appeared at first glance to be just another day at Garden. Daybreak occurred at 6:17 a.m. The midnight shift had had an easy time of it - no major incidents to report and no one was discovered out past curfew. Reveille was sounded at O seven hundred, everyone was timely and not even one person had shown up for sick call. By the time the early morning sun was burning off the chill from the previous night, breakfast was being served. All in all, just another day at the Garden - except after that day, nothing would ever be the same again.

After breakfast, Quistis Trepe was not in her usual spot, doing what she usually did, which was in the coffee shop enjoying her second cup of coffee of the morning. If she were not on a mission or involved with one errand or another for the Garden, she enjoyed beginning her day with one or more of her friends. Usually she would spend some time with Selphie or Rinoa or once in a great while Squall, who would then have to hurry so as not to be late to morning staff meeting. The young woman had come to look forward to that special time spent with her friends before the hectic schedule of the official day began.

But not on that particular day - that day she was in her small room packing her meager belongings. Garden did not invite clutter as most of the bedrooms were too small to accommodate much in the way of anything extra and plus Quistis was a strong believer in frugality. It helped that students at Garden received no financial reward until they were promoted to SeeDs and/or instructors, so young people there learned early how to survive without any money of their own. This economic conservatism on Quistis' part did not however extend to clothing. The beautiful young woman served as the perfect example of the expression - clothes horse; although there was nothing Equus caballus in her appearance. It was a given that of all the women at the Garden, Quistis had the most exquisite taste in apparel. The major difficulty was tasteful clothing is expensive, therefore Quistis was always in a state of warfare with herself - her innate desire to save money versus her love of new clothes.

Quistis took the extra time to carefully pack her clothing so none of it would arrive at Trabia Garden badly wrinkled. She was particularly happy that her transfer had been approved in time for her to do some last minute shopping in Esthar for warm winter clothing. It was frigid in Trabia, even in the summer time. Quistis was confident that she was doing the right thing, although it certainly shocked her close friends when they first learned she had requested a transfer to Trabia Garden. It had directly followed the board of directors of Trabia Garden deciding for the first time in its history to allow SeeDs to work and reside there. This decision was reached because of the tremendous amount of work still needed to be done in repairs and the absolute dearth of personnel.

Soon after the initial excitement of returning home from time compression had died down, the young woman came to realize that she was no longer happy in Balamb Garden. For sure the first flurry of world adoration extended toward the young heroes had been exciting as they traveled and were feted the world over. She attended so many congratulatory state dinners that she had gained five pounds in two weeks. To raise revenue for the Garden, Cid had hired a PR flack to quickly write a biography of the six young heroes that naturally concluded in their utter destruction of Sorceress Ultimecia. There was even some talk of a movie being made about their adventures. Naturally Quistis had first been flattered to go on the various television talk shows to converse about herself and the book in order to increase sales. She also did numerous book signings; many more than the rest of them because Cid felt the beautiful young woman offered the best image to represent the Garden.

Many people in the world press blamed Cid for shamefully cashing in on a horrible situation, but Cid thought (and rightfully so) that Garden had lost a tremendous amount of revenue through their participation in the war and they needed to recoup somehow. Besides Garden had pledged a certain percentage of the book sales to various countries to help them in their rebuilding.

A couple of months later, all of the uproar surrounding the Garden and their role in the suppression of Ultimecia was pretty much forgotten and had been replaced by something new in the world's thrill parade; all except for the whereabouts of Seifer Almasy. Even though the Garden itself reported him as either dead or missing in action, several countries still listed him as number one on their ten most wanted list. Galbadia, in particular, wished to exonerate itself for its role in the Second Sorceress War by bringing Seifer to the High Tribunal and trying him for war crimes. There was even a five hundred thousand Gil reward out on Seifer - dead or alive. The remuneration was sponsored by Galbadia, Timber, Trabia and East Academy. No one could even remember the last time those governments had ever did anything in tandem. Consequently there were government agents, private detectives and bounty hunters out searching for Seifer. Even the world's most famous bounty hunter, Big Dawg, was hot on his trail, but no luck so far. Quistis was positive from little hints that Cid had dropped in her presence that Garden had been approached to assist in the hunt, but the headmaster had responded that there wasn't enough money in the world to hire them to pursue one of their own. _Good for him! _Quistis had thought at the time. For once, Cid had stood up to world pressure.

Along this time also, Cid decided to land the Garden permanently in Balamb. There were many reasons to do this, but the primary one was it was cost effective (of course). The cost of flying the Garden constantly around the world was prohibitive. The only one of the six closely knit cohorts negatively affected by this was Quistis. She discovered herself longing for and missing the constant stimulation of always traveling to different places. Through her adventures Quistis now hated the hum drum, the routine, and feeling planted in one place. She considered herself far too young and too bright to already feel trapped by her life. And speaking of her life, the young woman had no idea at all how she wanted to spend it or with who. That was another reason for her disquietude. Quistis hoped she wasn't being neurotic but who did she have? After all, Rinoa had finally convinced Squall to trust her. Quistis realized that she was not only not in that ball game anymore, she wasn't even in the goddamned stadium. Irvine had finally won Selphie's heart and Zell (Hyne help him) had finally woke up and smelled the coffee and was going out with the pigtail girl. Quistis was just too intelligent and realized she had too much going for her to ever feel sorry for herself, but on the other hand she certainly had nobody to keep her anchored to Balamb Garden either.

The former instructor - yes, that was the last straw. Being demoted from an instructor still rankled deep within her soul - being told she lacked leadership qualities - that was so damned unfair. Obviously Quistis had proven her worth as a leader time and time again following her demotion. So what gives? she often wondered. After the first night when she had attempted to share with Squall how badly she felt over it, only to be cruelly pushed away from him, she had always acted as though it hadn't bothered her at all. Quistis had always found it ironic that Squall had done her a huge favor by refusing to commiserate with her, by pointing out that ultimately every individual is on their own and has to deal with their own problems. What hurt almost as much is when Quistis went to Cid to request that he approve a transfer to Trabia Garden for her, he had informed her if she remained, he would promote her to head supervisor of all the instructors. If he had felt that she was qualified to do the job and had earned the promotion, why had the headmaster waited until now? Quistis readily understood the dynamics of the situation. She was offered the position in the same manner that a dog would be offered a bone in hopes of keeping him from running away. _And that's the name of that tune, _Quistis cynically thought.

Despite it all, the young woman hadn't made up her mind for certain, until she accidentally overheard something she wasn't supposed to. And that's when everything changed.

Rinoa leaned back in the comfortable, overstuffed couch in one of the Garden's TV rooms and flung her left leg unladylike over the arm. It hardly mattered. There was only a handful of SeeDs and upperclassmen in the room, plus she was wearing a pair of knee high shorts. The meager attendance was due to it being only midafternoon and most people were still busy with their duties or their classes.

The young sorceress was basically killing time until Squall arrived to accompany her to the get together Cid was throwing Quistis on her farewell from the Garden. She had felt so betwixt and between during lunch that she had asked Squall to meet her in the TV room. Rinoa ordinarily never watched television, feeling as though practically anything to occupy her time held more validity than that. This sense of feeling lost at sea was something that Rinoa had been feeling more and more lately. The truth be told the dark-haired woman filled no legitimate position at the Garden, fulfilled no job responsibility and her own sense of personal worthlessness was growing steadily day by day.

Only when she was with Squall, did she feel she belonged at the Garden. Certainly her friends did all they could do to make her feel welcome and to spend time with her; but they had their own careers to concentrate on Everyone else in the Garden ignored her, except for the upperclassmen women who made cutting remarks when they were around her, because of their jealousy over her relationship with Squall. Every time she spoke to Zone, who was busy in the rehabilitation of Timber Rinoa felt a little more guilty that she wasn't there following through on the commitment that she had made a long time before. It certainly didn't help that Zone begged her to come back to her emotional home. Of course, he had never kept it a secret that he didn't approve of Squall. And after all, why couldn't she return to Timber and remain there Monday through Friday? It was close enough and easy enough to return to Garden for each weekend.

But what would Squall think? There never was a question what he would do. The taciturn young man would say it was up to her; whatever made her happy made him happy. But would he feel deserted or would he feel relief?

"Where exactly is Seifer Almasy? Is he dead or missing in action as Garden, the mercenary academy from whose loins he sprang would have us believe or is he hiding among the denizens of a large city somewhere as most of the world believes?"

The deep bass voice of Keith Oberberg the announcer of the show "Where are They Now?" cut across Rinoa's ruminating. He continued, "It has been almost six months since the destruction of Sorceress Ultimecia and the disappearance of Seifer Almasy, along with his two cohorts. Is it possible he is still alive? Yes, according to many eye witnesses spread world wide. We could spend hours showing you interviews we have had with citizens in every major city who say they have spotted him. But no matter - we're still no closer to finding him than we were on the day time compression ended. Let's go to our correspondent in Esthar, Emily Litella."

A dark-haired pigtailed woman, who wore unattractive black framed glasses appeared on the screen. "Hello, Kirk," she said.

"That's Keith, Emily," the announcer off screen corrected her.

Rinoa giggled at the ridiculousness of it all, when suddenly she was aware Squall was standing beside her. "I have been looking for Seifer Almasy high and low," the woman announcer continued. "And Kurt, I can't find him anywhere."

"That's Keith, Emily," Keith Oberberg corrected her again.

Squall scowled and said, "Let's go, Rinoa."

A male SeeD picked up the remote and quickly changed the TV channel to Deling Cartoon Channel. It was well known that the commander could not stand any mention of Seifer in his presence.

Before things could get worse, Rinoa quickly stood up and followed Squall from the room. The young man and woman had not traveled very far down the corridor when Rinoa heard the television being changed back to the original channel. From Squall tensing for a second, his girlfriend realized he hadn't missed the transition either.

_Seifer this and Seifer that, _Squall thought. _I am so sick of hearing about Seifer. What's the big deal? He's a no good criminal who tried to kill Rinoa, torture me to death and help destroy the whole world. Who cares where he is? If I knew where he was at, I'd kill him. I should have killed him before, it would have saved everyone a lot of trouble. _

"Why so quiet?" Rinoa asked and then smiled at him.

"Oh, just thinking, Squall said, attempting to sound casual.

_Yeah, about Seifer, _the young woman thought.

Squall had been so distant lately. The longer that they had been back from time compression, the more disaffected Squall had become. Squall never had been loquacious, but now he was down right silent. It was difficult to entice a coherent sentence out of him.

"It's too bad about Quistis, isn't it?" Rinoa asked.

"Huh, what, oh yeah, I guess," Squall agreed.

"I wonder why she wants to leave?" Rinoa tried again.

"I guess she doesn't want to stay here," Squall said.

"Oh, Squall," Rinoa sighed.

"What?"

"Oh, never mind," Rinoa said, and then fell silent by his side.

It'd be different if there was a reason Squall had to remain a commander. As much as he didn't like to admit it, there was a rationale when he took over the running of the Garden originally. Cid was caught betwixt and between the Garden's responsibility to find and kill the sorceress and the sorceress being his wife. But now? Cid had taken back over as headmaster - as well he should. It was his dream from the beginning. It wouldn't be right that he wasn't running it. But why did Squall have to stay on as commander? Why couldn't he just become an ordinary SeeD again? That's all he wanted. Whenever Squall attempted to broach the subject with Cid, he was told to wait.

It seemed to Squall that the only alternative he had, other than being miserable in the commander position, was to resign and leave the Garden. A feeling of hopelessness always passed through Squall whenever he considered that option. What would he do then? What had Squall been trained to do - other than to be a mercenary? In his more whimsical moments, he imagined he could open a "Ye Olde Mercenary Shop" and Rinoa could be his receptionist. Or maybe he could hire himself out as a wandering samurai. With each passing day he felt more helpless in discovering a solution. But what was worse than that - with each passing day, he buried his feelings deeper.

Unfortunately all of his feelings were being buried. He was lately finding it difficult to even wish Rinoa a good morning. He was afraid he was going to lose her, but he seemed to be unable to stop the vicious cycle.

Traveling in the elevator to the second highest floor of the Garden, Rinoa, without looking, fumbled about for Squall's hand. Finally locating it, she grasped it and squeezed. Squall looked down into her beautiful beaming face and nodded,

_Hyne help me, _he thought, greatly alarmed. _I just nodded at her - like she was a business associate. _

"Rinoa," Squall said.

"What, Squall?"

The elevator landed at the desired floor and the doors opened. The two young people stepped out and began walking down the corridor to Cid's private quarters.

"I'll - I'll tell you later," he stuttered.

_See that you do, You've been leaving a lot out lately, _Rinoa thought.

"Rinoa, I've been thinking of leaving SeeD," Squall blurted out.

Rinoa was silent for several shocked seconds and then asked, "Really?"

"Yeah."

"What would you do instead?" she said.

"I don't know," admitted Squall. "Maybe sell vacuum cleaners door to door?"

Rinoa laughed and then said, "You're putting me on? Right?"

"Nope," Squall said, shaking his head. "Not in the slightest."

By now, they were standing in front of Cid's door.

"Squall, I don't know what to say," Rinoa admitted.

"That's not strange, I don't either."

Suddenly Cid's door was ripped open. "There you two slowpokes are!" Selphie's voice boomed out shrilly; both qualities being part of her normal speech pattern.

"I told you I heard them out here. Come in, come in," Selphie welcomed, first pulling Rinoa into Cid's apartment and then Squall. She shut the door behind them.

Before neither one of them could protest, Cid thrust glasses of champagne into their hands. "It's domestic," he explained.

Irvine snorted and said, "He means it's from Balamb."

"Now, now," Cid said, stepping back from the two newcomers. "It behooves us to patronize the businesses in Balamb."

"I didn't know they had any vineyards in Balamb," Rinoa commented.

Cid coughed slightly and explained, "Well, they don't actually, but they press the grapes here."

"Nothing is too good for Quistis," Zell said, raising his glass high.

It was altogether too obvious that his glass wasn't the only thing in the room that was high. Kasumi, the pigtailed girl from the library and currently Zell's girlfriend, pulled his arm down and cautioned, "Shush, Zell."

"I've asked you all together today to wish Quistis a fond farewell -," Cid began.

Selphie began to weep gently.

Irvine reached out and touched the green-eyed SeeD on the arm, "It'll be okay, Sefie. Quistis isn't moving to the moon."

This unfortunate allusion brought back unpleasant memories to Rinoa and she winced slightly.

Glancing around the small apartment, Rinoa asked, "Where's Edea?"

Cid flushed and said, "Uh, Edea is very sorry she couldn't attend. She had a prior commitment."

_A prior commitment hanging out at an orphanage? _The sorceress thought with a snort.

Cid glanced unpleasantly at her and began again. "We're meeting today to wish our close friend and cohort, Quistis -."

Selphie sobbed much more loudly at this statement.

"Selphie, please!" Cid snapped at her.

"Oh, to heck with it," Squall suddenly said. Holding up his champagne glass up and waiting until everyone else had done the same, save for Selphie, Squall said, "Quistis has asked for a transfer to Trabia Garden. It has been approved and she will be leaving. We wish her good bye and good luck."

Six glasses were clinked together in unison, Zell clicked his with the air, missing the other glasses rather badly and Selphie was still crying. Rinoa tried a sip of her champagne, winced and set the glass down surreptitiously.

"When are you leaving, Quistis?" Rinoa asked,

"Later this afternoon."

"Oh my God, what am I gonna do?" Selphie wailed, and began to cry again.

"Can't wait to get away, huh Quisty?" Irvine said with a smile.

"What a hideous thing to say," Selphie whined.

"Lighten up, Sefie. It was a joke," Irvine complained.

Zell turned his glass up and finished his champagne. He held up his glass for a refill. "Could I have snother bun? I mean an udder come, please?"

"I think you've had enough, Zell," Kasumi said and took the fragile glass from his hand before he dropped it.

"Killjoy," he muttered, just before he staggered a few steps and fell heavily onto a chair.

Kasumi smiled embarrassedly at everyone.

As Selphie continued to weep, Quistis stepped forward and took her friend by her hand.

"It's not the end of the world, Selphie," her good friend said. "I'll be coming to Balamb some for the holidays and you're not exactly a stranger at Trabia."

The two young women embraced in a big hug. "You're right, Quisty. I'm sorry about acting like such a zit. It's just that somehow I always thought we would always be together - until we're old and gray."

"Yeah, I can just see that. A senile old Selphie doddering around trying to get Squall to show her around the Garden," Irvine said.

As everyone laughed, Rinoa had to admit to herself that Irvine was a master at helping any situation, no matter how dire it had become, to lighten up.

Quistis placed her glass down on a small end table and said, "Thank you so much, everybody. I'd like to stay, but I have some last minute packing to do before I leave."

_She's lying, _Rinoa thought. There was always a certain tenseness that Rinoa could pick up on whenever Quistis lied. _But I can hardly blame her for wanting to leave. This is terrible. _

Quistis presented Selphie a quick kiss on the cheek and then walked to the door. Just before leaving, she turned and offered a quick wave. "See you around."

And then Quistis was gone from their lives.


	2. Chapter 2

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robertdogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Two

"I'm gonna miss her so much," Selphie said and then sniffled back some tears.

"I have to meet some people from Centra in a few minutes," Cid explained. "Please feel free to stay here as long as you wish."

Just before leaving his apartment, Cid turned to Squall and said, "I'd like to see you in my office in one hour. I have some things I need to go over with you."

"Yes sir," Squall said, and, per his best military etiquette, offered a salute.

Cid began to say something, obviously thought better of it and stopped, shook his head and then finally said, "Okay, see you then."

After Cid left, Irvine said, "Why do you suppose Quistis really left? Did she say anything to anyone about it?"

"Nope, she didn't really tell me anything," Rinoa admitted. "She just said she thought she could be more of a help at Trabia Garden right now."

"What exactly does that mean?" Selphie asked, now that she had finally quit weeping. "Did she think what she was doing here wasn't worthwhile?"

"I've got some things to do before I meet with Cid," Squall said.

It had been obvious to Rinoa that her boyfriend had been uneasy with the entire conversation, judging by his fidgeting and constant glancing around the room.

"Rinoa, I'll see you after I talk to Cid," Squall said.

"Okay, see that you do," Rinoa said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Catch you all later," a slightly blushing Squall said on his way out.

While walking down the corridor, Squall thought, _What bull, I would have lost it if I hadn't gotten out of there. What difference does it make? She wanted to leave so she left. Although I'm going to miss her - I'd never admit that to anyone cept for Rinoa. Now what am I going to do for the next hour? I guess I'll go lay down for a little while. _

"He seemed a little tense," Selphie commented.

"Who? Squall or Cid?" Irvine asked.

"Actually both of them, but I was referring to Squall."

Since both of them looked to Rinoa for possible explanation, she merely said, "Squall's been a little under the weather lately, he'll be alright." _Like he wouldn't kill me if I were to tell them he was thinking of quitting SeeD. _

Zell began to snore in the corner. "Zell, honey," Kasumi said, tugging on his arm. "Get up, we've got to leave."

"Wha' sup?" Zell said, opening his eyes into a squint. "Oh, my head."

"We've got to go," Kasumi reiterated.

Irvine assisted the pigtailed young woman to pull Zell to his feet.

"Here," the erstwhile cowboy said. "I'll help you get Zell to his room."

"Thank you so much," Kasumi said. "That's very kind of you."

"Always aim to please a purty lady," Irvine said.

Selphie felt as though she would enjoy delivering a Fuijin type kick to her boyfriend's ankle, but decided to withhold punishment until later when they were in a less public place. Following her boyfriend and Kasumi and Zell out of the apartment, the young woman SeeD spoke to Rinoa. "Maybe I'll see you at dinner."

"Okay, thanks," Rinoa said. "I'll just close up here."

After her friends had left, Rinoa snapped off the lights and, locking the door from the inside, she shut the door. _That was a heck of a weird farewell, _the dark-haired woman thought. _I hope Quistis has a better welcome at Trabia. _

Upon hearing a knock on his office door an hour later, Cid invited, "Come."

Squall entered the headmaster's newly renovated office and stood in front of Cid's large executive size desk. As usual, the desk was full of papers and files.

"Thank you for coming to see me, Squall," Cid said.

"You ordered me to," Squall said, his voice devoid of feeling. _The man gets weirder by the minute, _he thought.

"Why don't you sit down and be comfortable," Cid said. He indicated a chair by his desk with a wave of his hand. "This may take a while."

"I'm fine, sir," Squall answered stoically.

_He hasn't changed a bit, _the headmaster thought. _I'd hoped that Rinoa would help loosen him up some, but I guess not._

_What are we waiting for? _the young man wondered impatiently.

"Sir?" Squall said, in hopes of prompting Cid to become more expeditious.

"Hmmm, oh, sorry," Cid apologized. "I was trying to come up with the best way of telling you this, but I guess I'd better just be blunt."

_Please do, _Squall thought sarcastically.

"Edea is missing," Cid explained.

"Missing, sir?" Squall said. He glanced around the office for a few seconds as if expecting to see craters where that bombshell just hit.

"Yes, she's been out of contact with me for nine days," Cid said.

_You waited nine days to wonder where she is? _Squall thought, aghast.

"You're probably wondering why I waited so long," Cid said, as if he could read Squall's mind. "The first couple of days I just figured she was taking a nap or was down by the water. Do you have any idea why Edea left Garden to move back to the orphanage?"

"No sir," Squall replied. He felt more than a twinge of guilt at being so judgmental so quickly without waiting for an explanation.

"Won't you please sit down?" Cid asked, beginning to feel exasperated with his young charge.

"No sir, I'm fine."

Cid continued. "Edea had been feeling so listless lately. She still feels very guilty over the part she played in the war, all the lives that were needlessly lost. Of course, all this has been exacerbated with the world press calling for her to stand trial. Laguna has been very helpful in deflecting some of this and it sounds badly to say it out loud, but luckily most of the other countries have been too busy rebuilding to worry about her right now."

"What about sending the Ragnarok, sir?" Squall asked the obvious question.

"I don't trust this to anyone except for you - and you can't pilot her," Cid explained.

_Oh, this is my fault? The one damn thing I'm not responsible for around here, _Squall thought bitterly.

"In fact, I'm not even certain that I should assign anyone from here to go investigate. This really isn't a Garden issue, this has to do with me personally. At best, it seems to be a conflict of interest; at worse, it's totally inappropriate."

"Bull!" Squall exploded. "Any of us would do whatever it takes to help Matron, no matter what's called for, no matter how long it took."

Cid was very touched. He realized that the 'any of us' didn't refer to the young people who lived at Garden; it referred to the five orphans who were originally saved by he and Edea.

"Thank you, Squall. I really appreciate that. So you'll go look?"

"Of course," Squall said readily. "I assume this is top secret, sir."

"God, yes!" Cid exclaimed.

_Well, that's the most life I've seen out of him in awhile,_ Squall thought. "I'll arrange for private transport and I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

Cid stood and reached across his desk. He impulsively grasped Squall's hand as though he were hanging onto a life line and was about to drown.

"I'm so grateful, Squall," Cid said, his voice thick with emotion.

"No problem, Headmaster," Squall understated, as he attempted to wrest his hand back without appearing obvious.

It turned out not to be a problem as Cid let loose on his own before collapsing back into his chair.

"Good luck, Squall," the headmaster said. "Naturally you have carte blanche, anything at all that you need, don't hesitate to charge it to the Garden."

"Thank you, sir," Squall replied and he offered the SeeD salute.

It was half heartedly returned by the older man. Squall turned and once he was certain that Cid could no longer see his face, he broke into a big smile. _Hot damn!_ he thought. _At last something to do. _

Once Quistis settled back into the red cushioned seat of the Garden transport vessel, she was relieved that her actual leaving of the Garden had gone so smoothly. After that tacky farewell gathering in Cid's apartment, she was grateful that the three Trepies were still in class when she left. She certainly hadn't looked forward to being accosted by them on her last day.

Glancing around the interior of the craft, at the long low table in the center that took up most of the space and the huge video screen in the front, Quistis thought back to the last day she had ridden in a Garden vessel - the Dollet mission. Good God, had it been that long? In her mind's eye, she could see Seifer sitting nonchalantly with long legs sprawled across the table, Zell bouncing on his feet nervously shadow boxing and Squall sitting hunched over, silent and haunted. So much had changed since that day and yet in another sense, nothing had really changed at all.

It was on that fateful day that she lost her job as an instructor. She only discovered later that her squad was considered the 'problem team.' Would it have killed Cid or, in particular, Xu to have warned her to emphasize to her students to be on their best behavior. Couldn't they have let her know she was considered to be on probation?

And who decided that Seifer be the squad leader? Quistis had always felt as though she had been set up to fail. Expecting Seifer to just secure the center of the city and then wait when there was still fighting going on elsewhere was the same as expecting a rapid dog not to attack someone. Anyone could have predicted what he'd do. If Cid had wanted her to step down as instructor because he thought she'd be more useful as a SeeD going on missions, why didn't he just tell her? Why go through such a useless charade?

And that was another thing. Why assign three brand new rookie SeeDs to an important mission to help a resistance group drive Galbadia from Timber? Wouldn't it have made much more sense for Quistis to be appointed the squad leader? And how did Seifer escape from the disciplinary room when no one else had ever done it - before or since?

Quistis had always thought that someone was far seeing enough to place Rinoa in the path of receiving Edea's sorceress powers, if she were ever defeated. It was well known the lengths Edea took originally to protect her 'children' from that curse. It would make sense to suppose that Cid felt that way also. Why else would the headmaster have agreed to accept an assignment involving three of his best young SeeDs for no money. If Rinoa had felt angry because she was so ill used, Quistis certainly wouldn't have blamed her. Could Cid have been behind it all? It certainly didn't fit his kindly Headmaster persona, but Quistis had seen enough of his cutthroat methods to know better. Or had Norg been behind it all?

One thing was certain. Quistis had played a part in it and it had began with her being terminated as an instructor. Letting go of her ruminating with a loud sigh, Quistis thought, _None of it matters any more anyway. I'm on my way to a new beginning. _

"Hello?" Rinoa spoke into her cell phone.

"Hey, it's me."

"Wow, you're early. I didn't expect Cid to let go of you for another hour," the young woman replied.

"Could we meet in the coffee shop in fifteen minutes?" Squall asked.

"Sure," Rinoa said. "Squall - is something wrong?" she asked rather tentatively.

"No, I just don't want to wait until dinner, because I'm don't feel free to talk in front of the others."

"Okay, see you then," his girlfriend promised.

The coffee shop was located on the sub-floor. The sub-floor was positioned between the first floor and the basement. Access was gained from the inner hub around the first floor elevators via long, black-stoned staircases.

Fifteen minutes later Squall and Rinoa were seated at a back table in the coffee shop. It was quite obvious to the others present that the couple was seeking privacy so no one was currently sitting anywhere near them. It didn't usually behoove anyone to irritate the commander.

"So what's up?" Rinoa asked brightly. The sorceress already had a premonition that she wasn't going to care for Squall's news, but was attempting to keep a cheerful façade no matter what it may turn out to be.

"I've being sent on an important mission. I'm not sure at this point how long I'll be gone."

Squall was attempting to keep his voice at a matter of fact tone. Part of his reason for meeting at the coffee shop was the hope that being in public would prevent an unpleasant scene with Rinoa. After all, this was the first time they had been separated since the death of Ultimecia.

"Well, that's great, isn't it?" Rinoa said.

She was experiencing difficulty reading the solemn expression on his handsome features. Rinoa couldn't honestly decipher whether Squall was happy or unhappy because of the assignment.

Continuing to smile at him, the young woman was relieved when her boyfriend finally said, "Yeah, I think it is, but." Here his voice trailed off...

"But you don't know what I'm gonna think about it?" Rinoa filled in the blanks, as she usually had to with the taciturn young man.

"Yeah, kinda," Squall answered.

Attempting to get a direct answer from Squall was akin to pulling hen's teeth, Rinoa realized. Rinoa continued to maintain her smile in hopes that her boyfriend would eventually feel encouraged to elaborate further.

Finally he said, "So I suppose you'd like to know what the mission is?"

"Of course I'm naturally curious," Rinoa admitted.

"I'm not allowed to tell you," Squall said bluntly.

"Oh," is all the dark-haired young woman said, but emotionally she felt as though she had been slapped hard across the face. _One of those famous secret missions I keep hearing about, huh? _she thought. _I hate this!_

"I meant I can't tell anybody," Squall said further. "Not just you."

"I got it, Squall. I didn't think Cid just singled me out not to trust," Rinoa retorted. Realizing her good natured façade had slipped badly, she was quick to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that. This is just a lot to take in all of the sudden."

"I know - it's okay," the brown haired man assured her. "I got caught flat footed by this myself."

"When do you have to leave?" Rinoa asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Squall answered.

The dark-haired beauty broke into a huge smile causing Squall to feel as though the most beautiful sun had just arisen.

"I'm certain about one thing," she asserted.

"What's that?" Squall asked, the perennial straight man.

We're gonna have a good time tonight," Rinoa said, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Yes!" Squall exclaimed. Now there was a subject that he could understand.

The pilot glided the Garden vessel softly up onto the beach at Hawkwind Plains, Trabia. He did this in order to allow Quistis to go ashore on dry land, rather than having to wade through the frigid water with her two suitcases in hand. He knew that the shoreline fell off quickly enough at that particular spot so he would have no difficulty in reversing when he left The front of the craft fell open and Quistis walked out carrying her two suitcases.

Once she was safely on the beach, she looked back to see that the machine gunner had popped the front hatch and was waving at her. "Good luck!" he called out and offered the young woman a thumbs up. Quistis smiled and returned the gesture.

"Thanks!" she shouted, with the cold wind whipping around her. _Brrr,_ she thought. _This is going to take some getting used to. _

The young woman watched as the gunner lowered himself back into the vessel and pulled the hatch closed. There was always a mandatory weapons man aboard each time a Garden craft went on a voyage, but Cid insisted they remain hidden unless they were needed. He refused to allow any vessel from Garden to be seen as though they were a pirate ship from the past searching for treasure to plunder. The front of the craft closed and the pilot backed it up carefully and then turned the vessel and they were gone.

Quistis turned to the dry land and immediately saw a black land rover that had immense snow tires. She picked up her suitcases and walked through the snow up to the vehicle. Suddenly the driver's side door opened and a young woman stepped out.

"Hi," she said brightly. "I'm Sara and you must be Quistis, right?" She held her right hand out.

"Yes, that's me," Quistis said. She momentarily placed one of the suitcases down in the snow and took Sara's hand in a hand shake.

The young woman Quistis was presently looking at had long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She appeared to be around Selphie's height and had a nice figure. Incongruously considering the weather, Sara was wearing a green and white tank top and gray dungarees.

Here, let me help you get squared away." Sara grabbed the one suit case and walked to the rear of the vehicle with Quistis following closely behind. The young woman pulled open the rear door of the land rover and placed the suit case in the back. Quistis did likewise.

After climbing into the vehicle, Quistis was grateful that Sara had left the motor running and the heater on high.

"Oh, it feels great in here," Quistis said, as Sara pulled the vehicle around and headed off in the opposite direction. "I hope you didn't have to wait long," she said.

"No, only a few minutes," Sara explained, flashing Quistis a quick smile. "Plus I stayed in here the entire time.

"Aren't you cold in that outfit?" Quistis couldn't help but ask.

"Well, I have my coat for when I'm outside for any extended period of time," Sara said, indicating with her hand the motley appearing jacket that was laying in a bundle on the floor. "But it's certainly nothing like your coat. It's so beautiful."

Thank you," Quistis said. Her heart went out to the young woman who had lived through such destruction and hard times.

Quistis' coat was indeed beautiful. Its ivory color brought out the natural tint of her strawberry-blonde hair and also helped soften her facial features in a very attractive manner. The coat was very warm, as it was fur lined with fur cuffs and collar.

"I bought it in Esthar," the young woman said to Sara.

"Oooh, you lucky duck," the excitable young woman exclaimed. "You've been to Esthar! I heard it was wonderful - what's it like?"

At that moment Sara was reminding Quistis of Selphie in her excitement and joy of life. She halfway expected Sara to exclaim 'Booyaka!' at any moment.

"Maybe we could go some day on leave together," Quistis suggested. "I heard that Laguna - I mean President Liore - has reopened the railroad from F.H into Esthar. We could get there on the train."

"That would be wonderful," Sara said, her blue eyes sparkling. "Do you know President Liore? I heard that he was dreamy."

Quistis knew of only one person who referred to the middleaged man as dreamy and that was Selphie. _How could I be so dense?_ she thought. _Of course, she probably knows Selphie. In fact they could have been roommates together for all I know._

"Do you know -," Quistis began.

The question would have to wait for a later time as Sara interrupted. "Here we are - home," Sara announced.

In the next moment, Quistis began to have serious doubts about transferring to Trabia Garden. When the first glimpse of the Garden came into view, Quistis thought, _Oh sweet Hyne, it still looks horrible._


	3. Chapter 3

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Three

In the next moment, Quistis began to have serious doubts about transferring to Trabia Garden. When the first glimpse of the Garden came into view, Quistis thought, _Oh sweet Hyne, it still looks horrible._

Sara pulled the land rover to a stop in front of Trabia Garden and turned to Quistis. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Well," Quistis said.

At least the green wall was gone, but it had so far only been replaced by framing; no walls had been added. It was therefore easy for Quistis to see within the edifice from her position outside. The concrete had been poured, but that was it as far as flooring. Inside there were beams and framing, but only a tarpaulin pulled over what should have been the first floor ceiling to keep out the elements. It was obvious that twenty-four hour guards would be a necessity to keep out monsters and anything else that was liable to stray in.

"Ghastly, isn't it?" Sara asked.

"Uh, yeah, basically," Quistis admitted. "What's been happening here or should I say - not happening here?"

"The problem isn't money, we have plenty of that. We've had a lot of donations, particularly from Balamb Garden. Also Galbadia has bowed to world opinion and given us a large restitution. The difficulty is getting any contractors here. Trabia City is over a hundred miles away and with the primitive conditions here, they don't want to stay camped out. It's too far to commute everyday through the artic conditions and our students just don't have the knowledge to do more than be day labor," Sara explained.

"Whew, that's terrible," Quistis said. "Maybe I can help come up with some solutions."

"That'd be great!" Sara said. "Well, I suppose we'd better go in, even though it's a lot warmer here in the truck." The young woman smiled ruefully.

As the two women climbed out of the land rover, Sara suggested, "Leave your luggage here. I'll have someone come get it and put it in my room, such as it is."

"Thanks," Quistis said.

Quistis and Sara approached the front gate, where two male older students were obviously stationed as guards. One of them had lengthy, dark hair with a rather long, but not unattractive, face and the other had short, curly blond hair and sharp features.

"Who goes there?" the long-haired young man said. "Stop and identify yourselves."

"Ted, quit being so silly," Sara chided.

The two upper-classmen broke into loud laughter.

"This is Ted and Bill," Sara said to Quistis. "Ted and Bill, this is Quistis, our new SeeD transfer from Balamb Garden."

The long-haired student, who Quistis now knew as Ted, looked her up and down and then turned to his partner guard. "Bill - she's very bodacious."

"Definitely!" Bill said.

"Just ignore them, they're always like this," Sara advised Quistis.

"I see," Quistis said, wearing a big smile. She thought they were cute, in the same way she would find playful puppies adorable.

"Bill, please get those two suitcases from the back of the car and take them to my room," Sara said.

"Yes, your highness," Bill said playfully.

"Come on, Quistis, we can't dawdle any further here. We've got lots to do before evening," Sara said.

The two young women stepped into the makeshift building. "They can be pretty silly sometimes," Sara said. "But at least they lend a little comedy relief. God knows we can certainly use it."

Quistis silently agreed, as she glanced around at the huge stacks of unused wall board, cans of paint and plaster, bags of cement and rolls of insulation. In fact, there was everything present needed to get on with the rebuilding of the Garden - except for skilled workers.

As they walked quietly along the road, Quistis was at least grateful that new macadam had been laid, so she didn't have to watch out for turning an ankle in a nasty pothole. The new transfer was delighted to see Selphie's friend sitting in the same place as the last time she had visited here. Quistis had been looking forward to delivering some messages to her from Selphie.

Selphie's friend was attractively slim-figured and had brunette hair. She was attired in green pants, a green checkered shirt worn beneath a brown fur vest and she was wearing black boots.

Stepping up to her, Sara said, "Kaede, this is - ."

"I know who this is," Kaede angrily interrupted. "This is the high and mighty SeeD who has come to save us all. Well, rots of ruck is all I have to say."

Quistis was completely taken aback and at a loss for words. The young woman's rudeness seem to hang heavily in the air, refusing to dissipate.

Sara handled the situation perfectly. "We'll come back later," she said. "Come on, Quistis. I want you to meet the headmaster."

As they walked away, Sara said, in a low tone, "I'm awfully sorry about that. She's not usually like that."

"What's up with her?" Quistis naturally asked, but not unkindly.

"Kaede's second in command behind our new headmaster," Sara explained. "She probably thinks you're here to take her position."

"Oh - well, I'm not," Quistis said emphatically. "You say your headmaster is new? I hadn't heard anything about that at Balamb."

"Yeah, our old headmaster just ran off. He couldn't take it anymore," Sara said and then giggled. "The new guy's name is Tony Gerard. He's the son of the head of the board of directors. He doesn't seem to have the slightest idea what he's doing, but I don't care - he's dreamy."

Quistis laughed her first hearty laugh for quite a while. "Well, I guess that's important too," she said, with a twinkle in her eyes.

"For sure! It really helps to have some good eye candy around here."

Quistis laughed again and said, "Sara, you're incorrigible."

Sara giggled and agreed, "Yeah, I know. Anyway, Kaede was waiting to transfer to Balamb to take her field exam when the missiles hit. The headmaster said she could go now, but she refuses to desert us. She practically runs everything - she's awesome!" Sara said, her eyes shining.

It was quite obvious to Quistis that Sara looked up to Kaede to the point of idolizing her. A young woman with long brown hair stepped up to them. She was pretty and had a curvaceous body and was wearing a brown blouse and a extremely short blue skirt. "Won't you please donate to our Garden fund?" she asked.

Before Sara could introduce the new transfer, Quistis reached into her pocket and pulled out a Gil chit. "Here," Quistis said, handing her the chit. "You can cash this in at any bank. Your best bet from here I guess is the bank in Trabia. If your computers are up, you can do it online."

"Thank you very much," the young woman said. "It is most appreciated."

"Alecia, this is Quistis - our new transfer," Sara said.

"Pleased to meet you," Alecia said. Glancing down at the chit, she exclaimed, "Wow! Twenty thousand Gil! Thank you so much."

"My pleasure," Quistis answered, ducking her head away in a Squall like gesture. She was obviously embarrassed at the response.

Sara was sensitive enough to pick up on the situation and said, "We'll talk to you later, Alecia."

As they walked on, Sara said, "That was very nice of you, Quistis."

"I've been a SeeD for several years and have saved practically everything I've ever made. I can easily afford this and it was something I really wanted to do. But, could you please keep this a secret? And ask Alecia to do the same?"

"Sure," Sara said, completely understanding her meaning.

It took Sara and Quistis quite awhile to wend their way through the Garden to beyond the garage area where the headmaster was located. This was due to Sara needing to stop and introduce Quistis to everybody they passed. Quistis noticed that most people appeared genuinely happy to met her and learn she was there to help.

"You know, I'm never going to remember everybody's name," Quistis admitted.

Sara laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. You'll know who everybody is in no time."

Sara and Quistis walked through where the garage had once been and then out to the large area behind the makeshift cemetery, where all the students and personnel who had lost their lives in the missile attack were buried. The first thing the SeeD observed was a great quantity of dome and tunnel tents. She was grateful to discover that they were no longer sleeping out in the artic elements at night.

Sara led Quistis to a blue dome tent. She then turned to Quistis and explained, "This is the headmaster's _office. _I'll see if he's in."

The female upper-classman lifted up one flap slightly and said, "Headmaster, can you I talk to you?"

Quistis heard a pleasantly masculine voice answer, "Certainly, Sara. I always have time for you. Come on in."

On the way into the tent, Sara whispered to Quistis, "Besides being dreamy, he's very polite also."

This unexpected comment caused Quistis to laugh, but she managed to cover it with her hand, while entering the tent.

The dome tent had a rectangular floor and two poles that crossed at the peak; each one ran in a curve from one corner, up to the top, and then down to the diagonally opposite bottom corner. Quistis was impressed with the size of it when she observed room for a small desk, some chairs, a small file cabinet and a cot.

"Headmaster, this is our new SeeD from Balamb, Quistis Trepe," Sara explained. "Quistis, this is Headmaster Gerard."

"I'm very happy to be here, Headmaster Gerard," Quistis said. _Sara's right, he is very attractive, _she thought.

The young man she was gazing at was six feet tall, had slightly longish blond hair, and blue eyes. His looks vaguely reminded her of Seifer.

The headmaster stood with some alacrity.

"I'm very glad you're here," he said. "I was just looking at your personnel records that were sent up from Balamb."

Here he motioned at some papers lying on his desk. Quistis noticed his desk was strewn with files and other various papers just as Cid's was back in Balamb.

Please sit down. You too, Sara," he said as Sara had turned to leave.

After the two young women had seated themselves in front of his desk, he sat down also and said, "I was happy to learn that you've been an instructor. We're going to need qualified instructors once we're up and running again."

"But I was -," Quistis said, feeling the need from the beginning to be honest about her experience as an instructor.

"I know all about it," he interrupted, holding up a hand. "It's all right here and if you read between the lines, it's quite obvious you were let go because of political reasons. It's evident that you're just too excellent a SeeD with a phenomenal record not to be a good instructor. In fact, your fine field work will be quite an aid to your teaching. Personal experience is so much better in teaching than just dry book work."

Quistis felt herself warming to the headmaster's kind words just as she was warming to him physically. She flushed slightly when she realized what she was feeling. _What am I doing? _she thought. _I'm here to work, that's all - and I'm certainly not looking for a romance. _

"That's very kind of you, Headmaster Gerard," Quistis said.

"Please, call me Tony. I have enough students calling me headmaster and you and I are practically the same age. Now, of course, I want you to be my second-in-command."

"With all due respect Tony, I'd rather you left Kaede in that position. I understand that she's been doing a wonderful job and after all, all the students know her quite well and vise versa. It'll be enough for me right now to just get acclimated and meet everybody."

"Well, I don't know," Tony answered. "I'm not sure how it looks to have a SeeD subordinate to a student."

"How about this?" Quistis asked. "I'll be third in command and if she's not here, then I'll take her place"

"Okay, you're a hard sell, I can see that now," he said, smiling. "We'll leave it at that for now."

_God! _Quistis thought. _He's gorgeous when he smiles. _

On their way back through the rubble, Sara said, "That was nice of you, Quistis. This will mean everything to Kaede."

"I wasn't being nice," Quistis protested. "I'm just here to help, not run anything.

"Whatever," Sara said, smiling at her.

That simple familiar word seemed to ring and ring in Quistis' mind. _What have I given up? Is it going to be worth it? _

As the two young women approached where Kaede was still sitting, Sara ran ahead, yelling, "Excuse me for a minute."

Quistis saw her new friend speaking animatedly with Kaede. She realized Sara was recounting what had transpired with the headmaster and, in doing so, was hoping to save both her friend and Quistis further embarrassment.

This was borne out as soon as the SeeD reached the twosome. Standing up, Kaede offered to shake Quistis' hand, which the other woman took her up on.

She said, "I'm very sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I made a lot of foolish assumptions."

"Don't worry about it," Quistis said. "I probably would have thought the same if our positions had been reversed."

After Kaede invited the two of them to sit beside her, she asked, "So what's the good word from Selphie."

"Oh, that's right," Sara interjected excitedly. "You know our Selphie."

"As a matter of fact, Selphie gave me a list of messages to tell you, but with your permission I'd like to wait 'til later," Quistis said.

Both Kaede and Sara nodded their assent. "Sara told me that lack of money isn't a problem. Is that right?" Quistis asked.

"Money is a non-issue and we're collecting more and more as time goes by," Kaede said. "Unfortunately we can't built the Garden out of Gil."

"Well, if you can afford them, I think we could get the technicians from F.H. I'm certain Cid would give permission to bring them all up here on the Ragnarok," Quistis said.

"Hyne! That would be heaven sent," Kaede said.

"In fact," Quistis continued. "I think they won't even charge the going rate. They love to fix things, they didn't charge us one Gil when they fixed our Garden after it crashed into their harbor - and there was a great deal of damage."

"I can't thank you enough," Kaede expressed, her face wreathed in happiness.

"Don't thank me," Quistis said. "Nothing has happened yet, plus we're all in this together now."

Squall slipped from his bed and looked lovingly down at the still slumbering Rinoa. If anyone could have seen the soft expression on his handsome features, they would have sworn it couldn't have been Squall. This was a side of him that he was never comfortable with sharing with the rest of the world and that included Rinoa most of the time. The few times he had shown her his soft side were the rare exception.

He dressed quickly and quietly, quickly because they had already said their goodbyes the night before and Squall wouldn't care for a repeat; and quietly because Rinoa could display all the aggressiveness of a Blue Dragon if she were awoken too early in the morning.

Squall packed a small canvas bag with a change of clothes and some other necessities. After moving to the door, Squall turned slightly and whispered, "Goodbye Rinoa." He left the room, pulling the door closed ever so softly. Rinoa opened her eyes and murmured, "Goodbye, my love."

Squall took a taxi to Balamb and was dropped off at the harbor area. He didn't even want anyone to drive him in a Garden vehicle, he felt the mission was that sensitive. The lone warrior stood in front of a large sign, on which 'Martin's Boat Rental' was stenciled. Underneath the large letters were printed - 'Deep Sea Fishing and Boating Tours.' A twenty-four foot fishing and cruise boat was tied to one of the long docks.

Squall had called the proprietor, Soren Martin, the evening before and made arrangements to reserve his services for the next few days. Although it was true that the sailor made some income from taking customers deep sea fishing and on tours, the vast majority of his income was made from his clandestine affairs. Whether it be smuggling, illegally transporting wanted criminals or spying, the rough hewn man was always interested. Speculation was high that Soren was ex-military or, at least, ex-mercenary, but nothing was ever known for certain - and no one was ever bold enough to question him. He had worked for Garden several times with great success.

Squall and Soren had a nodding acquaintance with each other as they passed in the Balamb streets, but had never spoken. It was impossible to live in Balamb for any length of time without knowing who Squall Leonhart and Soren Martin were.

The boat's owner appeared on his deck and walked down slowly to where Squall stood. Martin appeared to be in his mid-thirties, had coal black hair and was very muscular. He was a couple of inches taller than Squall.

"What's the deal?" he asked, laconically.

Squall warmed to him immediately. Soren was obviously someone who did not waste time on inane pleasantries.

"Ten thousand Gil down, then a thousand a day plus expenses," Squall said. "You stay with me until I say so."

"Agreed," Soren said, accepting the money from Squall. He carelessly stashed it in his back pocket. Even Squall noticed that the man had accepted the assignment without even questioning what it involved.

""I'll go lay in some provisions - about three or four days worth?" Martin said.

"Yeah," Squall agreed.

Two hours later the boat bearing the name, _Korey's Folly, _carried Squall and his cohort out on the high seas moving in a southwest direction toward _The Cape of Good Hope. _

Soon after Squall had left, Rinoa rolled over and awoke to the whining of her faithful pet, Angelo.

"Okay, okay, girl, I'll get up and let you out," Rinoa muttered. "Just give me a couple of minutes, will you?"

The dark-haired young woman sat up in the bed, the sheets tumbling off her front. "Geez, you can save my life, you would think the least you could do is learn how to use the bathroom," Rinoa said to her pet.

Angelo whined again in return. A few minutes later, the sorceress had literally dragged herself through her morning routine and was now walking outside the Garden, with Angelo running free and busy chasing butterflies.

_Conned again by a dog, _Rinoa thought. _She just wanted out to play. I guess we all need to get out once in awhile. _It was that simple thought that made up Rinoa's mind.

Rinoa allowed Angelo a few more minutes of play time and then she and her pet set search for Selphie. She was finally apprised that Selphie was off in the Ragnarok and this left Rinoa in a quandary. She didn't want to just disappear or leave an impersonal note on her bed, but she hardly wanted to bother Cid with such a triviality. Fortunately Zell bounded across her path - literally.

"Zell! Watch out! You almost ran into me," Rinoa exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry," Zell said. "Gotta stay in shape."

The energetic SeeD skidded to a stop.

"I was going to say I was glad I ran into you, but I'm not glad you almost ran into me," Rinoa joked, smiling.

"So what's up?"

"I was looking for Selphie to leave her a message, but I guess she's out on an errand. Squall's gone and Quistis is no longer here, so that leaves you."

"I'm so honored," Zell said. "You left out Irvine."

Rinoa laughed and said, "Anyway, I'm going to Timber for a couple of days and I just wanted someone to know where I am in case Squall returned."

Zell had been a SeeD long enough to not even think about questioning where Squall might be. He realized if he was supposed to know, he would have already.

"Sure, I think that's a good idea, Rinoa. Get a change of scenery. You've seemed a little down lately," Zell said.

_Hyne, has it been that obvious? _the sorceress thought.

"Now don't forget," the young woman warned.

"I won't forget!" Zell insisted. "Besides, I'll tell Kasumi. She'll tell everybody."

Rinoa laughed and said, "See you in a few days."

Three hours later, Rinoa carried her full suitcase with her while stepping off the train in Timber. Angelo followed dutifully behind. She didn't realize it then, but she had just made a decision that changed everything.


	4. Chapter 4

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Four

Quistis opened her eyes in the early morning light, her internal clock working as usual. Even though back at Balamb, she loved to sleep as late as possible, the female SeeD realized the night before that that particular habit was now a thing of the past. Duty would call early here at Trabia Garden.

Quistis stretched luxuriously as much as possible in the sleeping bag she now inhabited. She found it hard to believe that she was actually basking in the warmth of the tunnel tent she now called home. The tent was not only double skinned, but also contained a heating element that worked much in the same manner that an electric blanket did. Sara had explained to her the night before that their Garden possessed many gasoline generators to provide electricity, but they generally only used them at night due to the expense; except when they needed to use the computer mainframe in the daytime.

The tunnel tent had three flexible poles, arranged as three parallel hoops, with tent fabric attached to form a tunnel. There was a sleeping area at one end and a living area at the other end. Unlike the dome tent, it was not free standing. It needed guy ropes and pegs to remain upright. During the evening before, Quistis was astounded when Sara brought her into the tent and she discovered it was large enough for eight young women to sleep in.

Like most of the other students there, Sara had a sturdy cot to sleep on and she very graciously offered it to Quistis, who turned it down immediately. The strawberry-blonde haired woman was very touched that the female upperclassman was so sweet that she was actually disappointed that Quistis wouldn't take her up on the offer. The female SeeD was once again impressed with the way that the Trabia Garden students were dealing with such hardships without a word of complaint.

Quistis glanced around the tent from her sleeping bag in the dim light of the early morning and discovered that no one else had awakened as of yet - not even Sara, who before this had appeared to Quistis to run on a twenty-four hour a day battery. She was that energetic. She was once again struck with the similarity between the personalities of Sara and Selphie. _It must have something to do with the cold environment, _she thought whimsically.

Quistis quietly unzipped her sleeping bag and crawled out. She decided she would change her outfit later in the day. Not only did she not want to waken anybody unnecessarily early, but Quistis also realized there were only certain times of each day that the satellites were turned in the direction needed to be able to make a connection with her cell phone. Naturally Trabia Garden had no other phone service, not even to the city of Trabia that only lay a hundred miles away.

Quistis stepped out of the large tent into the cold crisp early morning. Seeing her breath in the air in front of her, she realized she had forgotten her coat in her haste to leave the tent quietly. Despite the frigid air, she decided against going back in and rummaging around for wherever her coat was. Instead Quistis remembered that Sara had informed her the night before that the cafeteria tent opened very early and she headed in that direction immediately. She wanted at least one hot cup of coffee before she had to make her calls.

"Hello?"

"Selphie, it's me - Quistis."

"Oh wow! Hi! How's it going? What's it like? Are you okay? I never expected to hear from you this soon."

"Selphie, slow down," Quistis insisted.

"Well?" Selphie said.

"It's going fine," she said.

Quistis went on to explain the situation at Trabia Garden to Selphie. After her friend had described what she needed, the brunette young woman was more than willing to talk to Cid about it; and then to travel to F.H. to talk to the technicians, if the headmaster gave his permission. Quistis ended the conversation by explaining that she would call Cid later in the morning. She then obtained another cup of coffee and sat down at one of the small cafeteria tables.

"Hello, this is Cid."

"Headmaster, this is Quistis."

"Headmaster who?" Cid asked. His connection as usual wasn't good.

"No, this isn't a headmaster, this is Quistis."

"Quistis? No, Quistis isn't here anymore. She transferred to Trabia Garden."

_He's worse than usual, _Quistis thought. _He always gets like this when Edea isn't around. Come to think of it, where is Edea? I haven't seen her for weeks. _

Sudden inspiration struck the female SeeD and she asked, "Is Xu there?"

"Yes, she is. Hang on for a minute."

Quistis felt extremely grateful when she heard the voice of Xu say, "Hello, who's this?"

"It's me - Quistis. Do you know if Selphie talked to Cid this morning about the situation here?"

"Yes, she did," Xu said. "I was right here. In fact, Selphie is on her way to Esthar as we speak."

"That's great!" Quistis exclaimed happily. "I have something else to run by you. What do you think about sending some upperclassmen and SeeDs, who aren't out on assignments, up here to do some day labor if the technicians from F.H. agree to help out. Trabia Garden would be happy to pay them some sort of equitable wages. Selphie could shuttle them every couple of days if the Ragnarok is available."

"I think that's a good idea. I'm certain something can be worked out," Xu said.

"Great, thanks Xu," Quistis said. "I'll be back in touch when the time is appropriate."

"Take care, Quistis," Xu said.

"I will, you too."

When Quistis reentered the tunnel tent she was staying in, she immediately saw that everyone had gotten up and left for the day. She decided that the fashionable outfit she had worn to Trabia Garden was totally inappropriate for the day to day work load. The young woman laid out a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeved heavy woolen jersey with a hood.

Once Quistis had removed her outfit, she decided that it was far too cold for her normal underwear. She had just replaced it with long winter underwear when Sara entered the tent.

"Ooh, la la," Sara said. "Very sexy. If Tony could see you now, he would snatch you up."

The mention of Tony in that context actually caused Quistis to blush. _What's wrong with me? I'm acting like a schoolgirl. _

The young woman sought to hide her embarrassment by the use of sarcasm. "Very funny," she said. "I look about as sexy as a train wreck in this stuff."

As a way of changing the uncomfortable subject, Quistis quickly pulled on her jeans and jersey. She rummaged through one of her suitcases 'til she found a heavy denim jacket.

"I don't know about that," Sara said. "When I spoke to Tony this morning, he asked me a lot of questions about you."

"He did? Was it about what kind of a job I've been doing?"

"No, not at all," Sara said gleefully. "He asked a lot of personal questions. I think he's sweet on you."

Thankfully as far as Quistis was concerned, Kaede took that moment to enter the tent also.

"Kaede, I spoke with Selphie this morning and the last I heard she was on her way to F.H. on the Ragnarok. And I also spoke with our female commander and she agreed that -."

Quistis' cell phone suddenly played its _Dance of the Balamb Fish _ringtone.

"Excuse me for a moment." Clicking on the cell phone, Quistis answered, "Hello. Oh hi, Selphie. They did? That's great! Okay, I'll tell them and we'll be keeping an eye out for you. By the way, why don't you plan on staying the night. They've got the warmest tents here, you won't believe it. Okay, I will - and Selphie - thanks a lot. I really appreciate it."

Speaking to Kaede and Sara, Quistis said, "That was Selphie. The F.H. technicians agreed to take on the job. About forty of them are loading up the Ragnarok right now. They should be here by early evening at the latest."

Listening to the joyous comments of Kaede and Sara, Quistis realized that this was the first thing she felt she had accomplished in months.

Soren Martin laid a course that brought them near the coast of Timber on their way to Centra. Of course to accomplish this, they had to sail under Horizon Bridge. For most people it might be a tricky maneuver depending on the weather, but for a sailor with the skill of Soren it was no great difficulty.

It was a beautiful day out on the water, although it was a trifle windy. Seagulls followed hopefully in their wake, but finally gave up and moved on to seek their lunches at a different location. It was a high sky and practically cloudless. It finally became so warm that both Squall and Soren reached an unspoken decision to remove their jackets.

At twelve noon, they shared a couple of sandwiches with sodas. The silent journey continued into the afternoon. To anyone else, the silence probably would have become oppressive - for the two men, it was just business as usual. Squall sat on deck in a small chair with his legs stretched out comfortably while he constantly scanned the horizon for signs of other vessels. There was always danger of pirates.

Hour after hour, they motored across the sea. They had left the bridge miles behind them by midafternoon. Late in the day a light squall (appropriately) suddenly and unexpectedly blew in. Soren decided to pull in close to shore and stop for the day. He anchored just off the coast where Odin's Keep was located. After a cold supper, he and Squall divvied up the watch hours. It would be foolish to sleep unprotected. Soren took the first watch to midnight, which left Squall the midnight to six watch. That way, Squall could sleep some the next day if needed, while Soren captained the boat.

Standing on main street's sidewalk, Rinoa happily watched Timber's normal busyness. She always felt more emotionally at home here, which in itself wasn't very surprising. After all, it was here that she grew up. Angelo whined in frustration and then ran in circles, barking. "Okay, okay, girl. Show a little patience," Rinoa said to her pet.

A woman who was walking by them looked strangely at Rinoa as she passed. _I've gotta watch that - talking outloud like that. People are gonna think I'm crazy. _

"Come on, Angelo," the young sorceress whispered. _Oh great, _she thought. _Now I'm whispering to myself. _

Rinoa walked down toward the Timber Hotel. She was shocked to see how many older buildings had been torn down and replaced with new office buildings and businesses. One building site held a sign that announced it was a Timber Municipal Planning Board Project. That was where Zone was currently working. Ironically enough, he had started it on his own and then shortly thereafter his position was replaced with a board of directors and a C.E.O. He was now in charge of new building projects.

After checking into the hotel and being shown to a room, Rinoa unpacked her suitcase. She next called Zone on her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Zone, it's me - Rinoa."

"Oh, - hey! What a surprise, how are you?"

"I'm good and yourself?"

"Oh, busy, tired, happy - take your pick."

After Rinoa laughed, Zone said, "Where are you? I can hear you so much clearer than usual."

"At the hotel."

"Rinoa - the hotel where?"

"Oh, here in town."

"You're in Timber?" Zone asked, greatly surprised.

"Yeah."

"Then why are we talking on the phone? Why didn't you just come to my office?"

"Because I don't know where it is," Rinoa explained.

"Oh, yeah, that's right - I forgot."

"What's the address?"

"To heck with that, I'll come over and pick you up. Be outside the hotel in ten minutes," Zone said.

Rinoa hadn't been waiting outside of the _Timber Hotel _for more then a couple of minutes when a 750cc _Deling City Special _motorcycle came roaring up main street and stopped several feet short of where she was standing.

_Oh great, _Rinoa thought. _What's this now? _

She was astonished when the driver climbed down from the hog and removed the old Galbadian war helmet to reveal himself as Zone.

"Aren't you going to say hello?" Zone asked rhetorically, since Rinoa's mouth was still agape.

Finally she said, "Zone! That's so cool, it's so unlike you."

"Thanks a lot, Rinoa."

Attempting to cover her faux pas, the young sorceress said, "Where did you get it?"

"Deling City," Zone said dryly.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Rinoa said and giggled nervously. "What am I going to do with Angelo?"

"No problem. I'll hold her up here until you get on, then you can reach around me and hold her during the trip."

Zone mounted the motorcycle and lifted up the kickstand with his left foot. He started the bike and then Rinoa handed him Angelo. It was then that Zone noticed Rinoa was wearing a short tight black skirt.

"Maybe you better go put on some blue jeans," he yelled over the loud rumbling of the motorcycle.

"No way," Rinoa protested. "I haven't been in Timber for months. I want to look nice – not like some biker babe. Don't worry, I can get on."

Rinoa used both hands to pull her black skirt up to the top of her thighs, then she swung her leg over the back of the bike and sat down. Zone turned his head to see if Rinoa was ready to hold Angelo and discovered that her skirt only fell to the top of her thighs.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. _She's showing a lot of leg there, _he thought happily.

"Eyes forward!" Rinoa snapped. "And if you do that again, you'll have no more eyes after that."

Zone whirled his head back around to the front. Rinoa snaked her hands around Zone until she obtained a grip on her pet. Waiting for a break in the traffic, Zone finally pulled out and roared down main street.

Thirty minutes later, Rinoa was sitting in front of Zone's large mahogany desk. Glancing around, she was very impressed with the surroundings. The walls of two offices had been knocked down to make one large office. There was a beige deep pile carpet on the floor and the walls were painted a sedate light blue. There was a number of large comfortable chairs, a top of the line computer hookup, a row of telephones and many file cabinets. There was a large detailed map of Timber hanging on the wall, and a number of colored tacks in certain areas, obviously marking where certain projects were currently. There was a large couch on the far wall that easily could be converted into a bed. There was also a forty inch console television. After smelling every inch of the office, Angelo gave her seal of approval by quickly walking in a circle three times and then laying down at Rinoa's feet.

"Zone, this is very impressive."

"Thanks, but it's just a bone to make up for kicking me downstairs," he said.

"Well, that may be, but it's a large and pretty one."

"Why are you staying at the hotel?" Zone asked.

"Because I don't want to live on the street?" Rinoa said, smiling.

"You know what I mean. You could have stayed with me for a couple of days."

"I don't think that would be a very good idea," the dark-haired woman said plaintively.

"Why? You worried about what what's-his-name would think?"

"No, I'm not worried about Squall," she answered, placing emphasis on her boyfriend's name. "I know he trusts me. But you know as well as I that Timber has a small town mentality when it comes to rumors."

"Well, that's true – we planted enough rumors ourselves when we were fighting Galbadia, but I still don't see what difference a couple of days would make," Zone argued.

"Who says I've only come for a couple of days?"

The shocked expression on Zone's face was the reaction she had been wanting. _Serves him right, _she thought. _Always so cocksure of himself. _

"Did you and what's-his-name breakup or something?"

"Squall, his name is Squall," Rinoa snapped.

"Sorry," Zone said. "Are you and weather boy having some sort of problem? If you want, I'll kill him for you."

"No, Zone, we're not having any problems," Rinoa said patiently. "He's got his career to worry about and I don't know why I can't do something also. I can always go back to Garden on weekends."

"You're really here to help?" Zone asked, surprise still evident in his voice.

"That's what I've been saying for the last five minutes."

"Then I have something you can help with," Zone explained. "You know the election for the new city council is coming up?"

"Yeah, you got somebody you want me to campaign for?"

"No," Zone said. "I want you to run for one of the seats."

"Me?" Rinoa said, incredulously.

"Why not you?" Zone said. "Who's better qualified and you'd be a shoe-in. They probably wouldn't even run anybody against you."

"Oh, come on now," Rinoa protested.

"No, I mean it. You're a bona fide Timber hero. When everybody else was giving Galbadia the run of the town and hiding under their sheets, you were out in the streets fighting, risking your life."

"You're embarrassing me, Zone," Rinoa insisted.

"I don't know why, it's all true," he said.

"And you really think I could win?"

"I'm telling you – they won't even run anybody against you," Zone reiterated.

"Okay, I'll do it," she said.

Zone sat stunned for a few seconds. He really hadn't thought she would agree so easily.

"That's great!" he exclaimed. "We've only got 'til the end of the week to get you signed up, but I don't see any reason to wait. We still have time today. The office is in this building. Oh, we'll run you for the 'at large' position."

"If that's a crack about my weight, I'm gonna kill you," the dark-haired woman joked.

"No, not hardly," Zone said. Rinoa had never seen him so serious. "Since there's a lot of Winhill investors in town right now, they're demanding that their interests be protected on the council. You would represent both Winhill and Timber."

"I think that would be interesting," Rinoa commented.

"Really?" the man said, disbelief in his tone. "Representing that bunch of country bumpkins? There's absolutely nothing of interest in that place."

_No, nothing at all, except it's the birthplace of the hero of the free world, Squall Leonhart, _Rinoa thought.

"I'll need to get over there and campaign some before the election," Rinoa said, thinking out loud.

"Good idea," Zone agreed. "And we can take that highway that cuts through the mountains. It'll be a blast on the -."

"With a rental car," Rinoa interrupted.

"Aww, that's no fun," Zone complained.

"Well, we'll drive a car over, since I don't want to give a speech in the world's most wrinkled skirt."

"If that's all you're worried about, just ride over skirt-less. We could carry it in a travel bag."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, but when did you get so perverted?" Rinoa asked.

"I've always been perverted. You know that," he insisted.

Thinking back to all those large stacks of **The Girl Next Door **magazines that sat around their train car, Rinoa suddenly realized that Zone spoke the truth.

"Okay, I'll grant you that, but you never mentioned it back then," she said.

"That's because I was too scared of you to."

Rinoa flashed him a hard look and said, "You need to be too scared again."

"I'm paralyzed with fear," Zone said.

"Good."

Zone stood up from his desk and said, "Now that that is taken care of, let's go get you registered to run, Miss Councilwoman."


	5. Chapter 5

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Five

Quistis was standing at the end of a long line in the cafeteria tunnel tent, waiting to be served. She wondered where Sara and Kaede were, since both of them had promised to meet her for dinner. One thing was certain; she was very hungry because she had missed lunch and she wasn't going to risk missing dinner by going out and searching for them.

Suddenly Sara ran into the tent, wearing a large smile and obviously wildly searching for Quistis.

"I'm over here, Sara," Quistis called out.

Locking eyes with Quistis, Sara excitedly said, "Come on, they're here – the Ragnarok is here."

Following Sara out of the tent, Quistis muttered to herself, "Well, there goes dinner." _Maybe I can get a snack before I go to bed, _she thought.

Sara was excitedly racing so fast out of the Garden that Quistis was surprised that she hadn't by now careened into someone – ala Zell.

Sara twisted her head around for a second and yelled, "Come on!"

"I'm coming," Quistis called back. "Watch out where you're going."

Despite herself and her hunger, the slightly older woman found Sara's excitement contagious and suddenly she too was feeling impatient to cast her eyes on the Ragnarok and to talk to Selphie.

Quistis exited the Garden and saw that Sara had already ran up to the Ragnarok and was talking to a smiling Selphie. Kaede had also materialized from somewhere and she too was talking to Selphie at the same time. There were technicians everywhere outside the ship. They were carrying their personal possessions with them and bags of tools also.

"Hi, Quistis!" Selphie greeted enthusiastically. "You look great. This cool mountain air must agree with you."

Quistis laughed and said, "Selphie, I just got here yesterday."

"Haha! That's right! But it seems so much longer," the younger woman said.

A man who Quistis remembered from F.H. came striding up to them. He was tall with short brown hair, a round face and appeared very strong He was easily carrying a suitcase and a huge bag of tools in one hand. He was holding his brown cap in his other hand.

Selphie introduced him to everyone as Mr. Michaels. She explained that he was the main supervisor of the F.H. technicians. "We are so grateful to you all coming up here to help, Mr. Michaels," Quistis said sincerely.

"It's our pleasure, Ms. Trepe, but please call me Franklyn."

"Okay, but then please call me Quistis."

"It's a deal," Franklyn said and the two of them smiled at each other.

"Sara, why don't we help get them all situated in the tunnel tents," Quistis suggested.

"Good idea," Sara said. "Franklyn, could you please get all of your people together and then we'll help them locate their new living arrangements."

"Certainly, I would be happy to. We'll get started on the Garden first thing in the morning."

The forty technicians had been fed and now were all abed. They had had a busy day and had been uprooted and then replanted a couple of thousand miles away within a few hours. Franklyn again had promised Quistis that they would get an early start. Kaede, Quistis, Sara and Selphie were now all sitting in the tent where Sara and Quistis slept.

"Hey, I could be mistaken, but I think I saw some young women now among the technicians," Quistis said.

"Wow, that'd be great," Selphie said. "If you did, then that would be Flo's influence."

Quistis laughed and agreed, "Yeah, you're right."

"Who's Flo?" Sara asked.

"The wife of the mayor of F.H.," Quistis said. "She's a real pistol."

"For sure," Selphie said. Standing up, Selphie said, "Speaking of guns, I'd better get back. Irvine worries about me if I'm not home every night."

_It's the other way around, isn't is? _Quistis thought. "I thought you were going to stay the night," she said. "You know, it's really comfortable here."

"Oh, I know that," Selphie said. "After all I lived here, you know."

Quistis noticed that Kaede and Sara looked at each other and rolled their eyes in response to Selphie's statement. The goodbyes were short and sweet and Selphie was soon on her back to Balamb. Kaede made sure that Quistis got a late dinner and then Trabia Garden shut down for the night, save for the midnight shift.

It was midmorning in Trabia. After leaving the meeting she had been called to by the headmaster, it seemed to a disappointed Quistis that the technicians didn't appear to be doing much in the way of work. They were mostly gathered in small groups, talking to each other.

_And that's another thing, what was that meeting with Tony about? There didn't seem to be any reason for it. And why weren't Sara and Kaede there? It would seem if he wanted to have a morning staff meeting, that he would want them there too. He did look really nice today, though. Like he took awhile to get ready and he carefully picked out his outfit. What am I thinking? That the headmaster is going out of his way to impress me – that's ridiculous._

Quistis was thinking so intently that she didn't notice Franklyn was patiently standing in front of her until he politely coughed. The young woman finally noticed him and realized how foolish she must have looked to him.

Flustered, Quistis said, "I'm so sorry, Franklyn. I was thinking about something else. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes, there is," he said. "You might have noticed that we're not exactly going a house afire this morning.'

When the straw-blonde haired woman nodded, the big man continued. "Basically, the problem is we don't have any blueprints. There's no way we can rebuild this entire Garden without blueprints."

_What a dunce I am! _Quistis thought. _Of course they would need blueprints._

"Of course there isn't," she said. "I'll speak with Kaede about it as soon as possible."

Quistis set out immediately to search for Kaede. Fortunately, she located her in the very first place she looked – in the tent where Quistis and Sara slept at night. The young woman found Kaede and Sara deep in conversation at the other end of the tent. She couldn't hear the entirety of what they were talking about, but she did hear her name mentioned and then Tony's. Quistis was naturally curious concerning what they might be saying about her, but felt very uncomfortable with just standing attempting to eavesdrop.

As soon as the female SeeD began to cross the tent, Sara and Kaede noticed her and stopped talking. Stepping forward, Quistis said, "I was just talking to Franklyn and he said they're going to need blueprints to continue working."

"Oh – the blueprints," Kaede said. "This is all my fault. We commissioned the building plans from a well respected architectural firm in Trabia. It was expensive, but totally worth it. They did a wonderful job, but since we really had no need of them at the time, they're still at the firm. We could try to reach them online and have the firm fax them, but at best, we probably wouldn't end up with all the plans or at the worst they would come to us in parts and then it would be up to us to piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle."

"This is too important for that," Quistis pointed out. "If Sara's willing, I think she and I should drive to Trabia and attempt to obtain the blueprints."

"Right on!" Sara agreed in her own inimitable fashion.

"Okay, I think that's a good idea," Kaede said. "Please take a full fifty gallon gas can with you and fill up before you leave. And make sure you have your cell phones with you in case of emergency.

An hour later they were on the road in the land rover headed for the City of Trabia.

Soren Martin guided his boat, _Korey's Folly, _close to the beach at _The Cape of Good Hope _in mid-afternoon. He told Squall that he would stay back and handle the rear guard. Squall agreed and climbed down into the water. It came up to around his waist. Holding his weapon up out of the water, the taciturn young man waded silently to the beach.

Taking one last look back at Soren, Squall quickly walked up the curving stone steps that led to the old orphanage. He came out at a wide path of dirt and grass that lay between two buildings. Squall entered the old building carefully, watching out for old rusty nails and fallen pieces of the walls and ceilings.

The young man entered one of the two bedrooms that were still somewhat livable. He realized this must have been the bedroom that Edea had been using, as the bed still had fresh linen on it. His natural squeamishness plus his innate sense of politeness whenever he was involved in anything related to Matron caused it to be extremely difficult for him to investigate further. Squall realized, though, if he were to be successful in locating Edea, he would need to move past this.

He approached the bed and recognized immediately that despite the overall dustiness of the surrounding environs the linen was relatively still clean. This would seem to indicate that she hadn't been missing for nearly as long as Cid thought.

_What's this? _Squall thought, bending over the bed to obtain a closer look. _It looks like blood. _

After thoroughly inspecting the entirety of the bedroom, Squall ascertained that Edea's clothes, makeup and suitcases were all missing. He realized that this would indicate that the former sorceress had left of her own violation; although he would be loath to inform the headmaster of this.

Squall moved his inspection to the adjacent room. He noticed the dust on the iron stove had been disturbed to the point that it must have been used. This was strange in itself because the weather lately in Centra had been mild and he just couldn't picture Edea using the ancient stove for cooking.

Squall knelt in front of the stove and swung the heavy iron door open. Squall pulled his leather glove off his right hand and then reached his bare hand into the stove. The ashes were cool to his touch. He began to sift the ashes with his hand. Squall felt nothing out of the ordinary. He continued to sift the ashes for another minute and then as he was pulling his hand out, it landed on a small piece of paper. Squall removed the paper from the stove.

Holding it up to the light, he thought, _What the heck is this? _

It was obviously a corner of a note that had been purposely burned. The small piece of paper held one word on it – Seifer. _Seifer! It figures, _he thought angrily. For the time being, Squall decided against apprising Cid of the situation. He didn't want the responsibility of upsetting the middle-aged man even more than he already was.

_Hell, _Squall thought. _I'm upset by all this myself. It looks as if she left voluntarily, taking everything she owned after receiving a note about or from Seifer. And even worse – without saying one word about it to her husband. _A sudden thought totally discomfited Squall. _What if Seifer is involved in some kind of revenge against Matron? I would put nothing past a guy who tried to 'feed' Rinoa to that hideous hermaphrodite, Adel._

Squall stepped back through the tumbled down building, retracing his steps – only to see Soren hurrying up the stone stairs.

"There's a ship arriving," he shouted up at Squall.

As soon as the SeeD reached the top of the stairs, he obtained a clear view of the White SeeD ship. "It's okay," he answered in return. "They're friends."

"Okay."

Just before Martin turned to go back down the stairs, Squall yelled, "Hey!"

"What?"

"Good job, thanks," the young man said.

"No problem," Soren said and then he turned and jogged back down to the beach.

_So that's what it's like talking to me, _he thought.

The beautiful White SeeD ship with the three sails glided up easily on to the beach. Squall watched the leader and two of his associates come out on deck and then step down. Soren was standing on the deck of his own boat, _Korey's Folly. _He had a revolver in one hand and a rifle with a telescopic sight in the other. Squall realized it would be useless for him to attempt to call Soren off and after all, the man was just doing his job.

Squall remembered the White SeeD leader's name was Phillip Bryceson. He met them halfway down the beach.

"We keep meeting so unexpectedly," Phillip said.

Squall recognized this ploy to be small talk, which so many people felt necessary to engage in before getting down to business. In this particular case, he was anxious to move on in his search for Edea, so he just nodded.

The White SeeD leader apparently understood Squall's position and said, "We're looking for Edea. We would like to speak with her."

"She's not here," he said simply. Squall understood that the details of his assignment were top secret and none of their business and if he told them, it could only prove embarrassing to Balamb Garden and to Cid.

"Do you know where she is? It's very important that we speak with her," the White SeeD leader explained.

"Nope, I don't have any idea. All I can tell you is she's not here," Squall said.

Phillip stared at the young commander, waiting for anything further. When Squall did nothing more, not even blink, he realized no further information would be mined here. He turned and stared at Soren for a moment. When Squall offered no explanation about him either, Phillip sighed and turned back to the Balamb SeeD.

"We might as well get going," he said. "We're going to search Centra more extensively. If we find Matron, we'll explain to her that you are looking for her."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," Squall said, not giving away a thing.

The three White SeeDs returned to their ship. As they sailed away, Squall waded out and climbed on board _Korey's Folly._

"Hey," Martin said.

"Yeah?"

"You say they're friends?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Judging by that, I'd hate to see how you treat your enemies," Soren said.

"I only have one enemy left."

Rinoa set the TV remote down on the end-table after using it to change the channel to D.C.N. (Deling Cable News). She sat back in the large easy chair in Zone's office, waiting for him to return with their takeout lunches. A minute later, she was sitting forward on the edge of her seat listening to the news commentator announce her candidacy for the 'at large' position on the Timber City Council.

_Damn it! _she thought. _I told him to wait to announce it until I told them back at Garden. What is Squall going to think if he hears it on television first?_

Zone entered his office carrying a bag for _Shumi Sandwiches to Go _and a **Timber Times **folded under his arm.

"Zone, I thought I told you to wait on announcing my decision until I told them back at the Garden?"

"Hmmm?" he said, displaying innocent face #49. He placed the takeout bag on his desk and pulled open his drawer. Before he could slide the newspaper into it, Rinoa arose from her chair and quickly crossed the room.

"Stop!" she exclaimed, pinning the **Timber Times **effectively to his desk with her weapon, Shooting Star.

"Rinoa! Not so violent!" Zone protested.

"I'm willing to bet you that the front page of that paper has an article about me running for the council on it. You wanna bet?" Rinoa said.

"I'm just doing my job," Zone said, defending himself.

"I know," Rinoa said. "It's just unfortunate. Have you seen the pictures from the morning photo session for the campaign posters yet?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, Watts is working on the posters right now,"

"Watts is working on them? What does Watts have to do with them? The photographer shot a full session," the dark-haired woman said.

Unfortunately for both he and Zone, Watts walked into the office carrying some campaign posters.

"Oh," Watts said, slightly flushing. "I didn't know you were here, Rinoa. We can go over these later, when you're not so busy."

Watts turned to leave and Rinoa said, "I'm not busy. We can go over them right now."

"No, I can wait," he insisted.

"Watts," the sorceress said firmly. "Let me see those posters."

He reluctantly turned and handed Rinoa the top one. She noticed that Zone had appeared to melt into the background of the office. The dark-haired woman held up the poster and her sharp and sudden gasp told the tale.

"What is this?!" she angrily demanded. "This is not what I was wearing for the photo session. I was wearing a sedate and tasteful business suit – not this – not this lingerie."

"I told Zone you wouldn't like it, much less this other stuff."

"What other stuff?" Rinoa shouted.

Zone was wildly gesticulating at Watts to leave the room.

"Watts, what other stuff?"

The young woman held out her hand and Watts filled it with another poster.

"Oh my God! I never posed wearing these – these -."

"Scanties?" Watts said.

"Yeah, exactly – these scanties. I never posed for these."

"Watts, please shut up," Zone pleaded.

"No, of course you didn't," Watts volunteered. "I created it in Photo Shop."

"Who told you to do that?" Rinoa demanded.

"Zone," Watts said.

"Zone!" Rinoa exploded.

"No, I mean nobody," Watts said. "Nobody told me to do it."

"Nobody told you to do it, Watts? That's insane, even for you," the angry young woman said.

"Yes sir, I mean, no sir," Watts babbled.

"Well, Zone?" Rinoa said, turning to him.

"You need an edge. You have a natural beauty, you should use it – you could end up being mayor of Timber in six months," Zone explained.

"Not like that, I won't," Rinoa protested. "I'm trying to run a political campaign – not a side of the road burlesque show."

"Oh – right," Zone agreed sadly.

"There better not be any more of these," the sorceress said, shaking the posters at them.

"There aren't," Zone said.

"And there better not be anything in your computer like this – say, in the Photo Shop."

"No, sir – I mean, yes sir," Watts said, turning to leave the room.

"Where are you going, Watts?" Rinoa asked.

"Oh, just to do a little work in my computer, sir."

"Let's put it this way, Watts. You better be done in five minutes, and there also better not be any copies on floppies."

"No, sir – I mean, yes sir." Watts scurried from the room.

Returning her attention to Zone, Rinoa said, "I'm not fooling – if I find any more evidence of this – well, does the expression 'Peeping Zone' and being struck blind ring a bell?"

"Yes, I understand, Princess," Zone groveled.

"I'll just keep these. Squall might enjoy them as a birthday present," Rinoa said, smiling as an indication that she was no longer angry. "What did you decide to say on the real poster?" she asked.

"A vote for Heartilly is a vote for freedom," Zone said.

"That's good, I like that."

Rinoa instinctively knew when to apply the stick and when to offer the carrot.

"Now, where I am giving a speech today?"

"The Timber Chamber of Commerce," Zone answered.

Holding up some papers he had just picked up from off his desk, Zone said, "Here's a speech Watts and I drafted for you."

"No offense," Rinoa said. "But I already know what I'm going to say. I've known for years." Her eyes momentarily took on a faraway look – remembering back to all those years of struggle. "We did it, Zone," Rinoa said. "We really did it."

"Yes, we did," he said softly.

Snapping back to the present, the dark-haired young woman asked, "When are we going to Winhill?"

"Don't tell me you're still serious about going over there?"

"I most certainly am," Rinoa said emphatically.

"Well, if I can make some calls over there this afternoon and get everything set up for a public square speech, we can go tomorrow."

"Good," Rinoa said.


	6. Chapter 6

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Six

The Land Rover crunched over the snow-covered road to the City of Trabia. The roads in Trabia were usually not cleared, except for the short period of warm weather that was experienced every year. Quistis and Sara had been on their journey, with Sara behind the steering wheel, for a very short few minutes.

"How far is Trabia?" Quistis asked.

"It's a little over a hundred miles, but time wise, it can take anywhere from two and a half to three hours," Sara explained. "It can be difficult to make time driving through all these snow drifts."

Quistis laughed and said, "Yeah, I imagine hitting one of those Mesmerizes at top speed can really slow you down."

"For sure – and rip up the Land Rover pretty good too!"

"Have you ever been to Trabia?" Quistis said.

"Oh yeah, plenty of times, but of course, not much lately," Sara answered. "Back in the old days, whenever we got leave, we'd go there. There wasn't any place else to go, anyway. They'd time it so a bunch of us could go at the same time and then the city would send out a special bus."

"That was nice of them," Quistis said.

"Yeah, but they were making money out of it too," Sara said. "Since the missiles hit, they don't care anymore. They know we don't have any extra money now," Sara said sadly.

_That's awful, _Quistis thought. _Somebody ought to be able to do something._

"Maybe Cid could provide a bus for you all," Quistis suggested.

"That would be great!" Sara exclaimed. "It would really lift people's spirits if they could get away from the Garden once in awhile.

Quistis enjoyed seeing the smile return to the face of her new friend.

"What's it like?" Quistis asked.

"Trabia? Oh, it's pretty wild. It's up here all by itself. They kinda do what they want, you know?" Sara explained.

"I'll be interested to see it."

"Yeah, it'll be fun. I'm glad we had to get these building plans," Sara said. "Hey, when we get there, do you think you could go to the architects by yourself. Kaede asked me to do some shopping for her and I thought it would go a lot quicker that way."

Quistis answered thoughtfully, finding the situation to be slightly odd. "Yes, I think that'll be okay – as long as you're back in time. I don't relish being lost in Trabia, if it's as wild as you say."

Sara laughed and said, "Don't worry, I won't desert you. So, what do you think about Tony?"

Again Quistis thought the question was loaded with landmines so she proceeded slowly, picking and choosing her words carefully. "I think he's a nice guy, and he seems interested in getting things going again."

Sara smiled at Quistis and said, "Yeah, but what do you really think?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," the older woman answered, slightly confused.

"Okay, to be blunt, do you think he's good looking?"

_Okay, I get it now, _Quistis thought. "Sure, he's good eye candy, like you said."

"Now you're getting with the program!" Sara declared.

Quistis laughed heartily at her new comrade. "You always make me laugh, Sara. I thank you for that. It seems that I haven't laughed at much lately."

Sara looked thoughtfully at the female SeeD. "Maybe we can help you with that," she said.

The city of Trabia was slightly more than a hundred years old. It had been carved out of the artic wilderness by the first mining companies and wildcat explorers searching for oil. As Sara intimated, Trabia was so far removed from the rest of the world, that they had a tendency to not be concerned at all with world opinion. They did things their way. They were completely self governing with a mayor being the highest elected public official and they had a city council. The Trabia City government spoke for the entire country, unless someone else objected and could back it up. So far, the Snow Lions and Blue Dragons hadn't been able to organize.

Quistis discovered that Sara had been telling the truth concerning her being familiar with Trabia, as she was able to take them directly to their destination, after only looking at the address. After Quistis got out in front of the architectural firm of McFarlane, McFarlane, McFarlane and Todd, Sara said, "I'll try to be quick and then I'll meet you out in front here."

"Okay, be careful," Quistis said.

Sara laughed and said, "I will, I'm not exactly going into battle, you know."

The younger woman then drove away in the Land Rover leaving the blushing Quistis standing on the sidewalk.

_She's right, I'm such a worry wart. But I care about her and this does look like a frontier town, _Quistis thought, glancing around. She saw outlandish outfits that one would never see among the more stylish citizens on the streets of Deling City or Dollet. There were people actually wearing buckskins and entire outfits made out of fur. The young woman also espied quite a few Goths and punks. There were also plenty of Galbadian soldiers on the streets. _What in the world are they doing here? _Quistis wondered. She was also able to pick out the transplanted citizens from Deling because they were wearing the current fashions from there.

Unlike the tall office buildings Quistis was used to, the firm was located in a one story building. She entered and strode up to the front counter. A plumpish middle-aged brunette woman smiled at her.

"Yes, may I help you?" she asked, pleasantly.

"My name is Quistis Trepe and I'm from Trabia Garden. I'm here to pick up some building plans you did for us a while back," Quistis explained.

"Do you have a business card?" the woman asked.

_How strange, _Quistis thought. "What's a business card? I've never heard of it," the younger woman said.

The receptionist harrumphed and then complained, "And they say we're uncivilized. A business card has information on it. It says what your name is and what business you're in."

"But I just told you that, I'm Quistis Trepe and I'm from Trabia Garden."

The woman's aura took on an air of aggravation. "Yes, that may be, but a business card has your phone number on it. That way a person knows how to reach you when you're not there. See," the woman said. She picked up a small card from a stack on the counter and handed it to Quistis.

The female SeeD read – McFarlane, McFarlane, McFarlane and Todd, Architects for the past fifty years, Trabia City, Trabia, Phone Number – (555) 555-5555.

_They're kinda fond of fives, aren't they? _Quistis thought. _You wouldn't need a business card to remember that number, but I guess it would be considered argumentative and pedantic if I pointed that out to her. _

Quistis tucked the small card away in her coat pocket. "Is Mr. McFarlane in?" she asked.

"Mr. McFarlane has died," the older woman said.

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's alright, he died twenty years ago," she explained.

Quistis pulled the business card back out and glanced at it. "Well, could I please speak with Mr. McFarlane?"

"I'm sorry," the employee said. "Mr. McFarlane passed away ten years ago."

Totally perplexed now, Quistis had no idea what to do, but continue. "Could I please speak with Mr. McFarlane."

"We lost Mr. McFarlane five years ago," the receptionist explained.

"I'm so sorry," the female SeeD said once again.

"Thank you, it was rather sudden. It came to a shock to us all. He was only seventy-five, you know."

"That is a shame. Is Mr. Todd in?" Quistis very tentatively asked.

"Yes, he is, I'll buzz him."

After speaking on the phone and explaining the situation, the employee said, "Go right in."

Quistis wasn't at all surprised to discover that Mr. Todd was a gray haired, elderly man. Judging by his present posture, he owned an extremely painful, bent back. He was apparently already searching his files for the building plans.

"Trabia Garden, is it?" he said, in a dry raspy voice.

"Yes, sir," Quistis said, respectfully.

"You don't have to call me sir," the old gentleman said. We're not formal around here. Just call me, Mr. Todd."

The much younger woman had to cover her mouth to hide her laughter. _Well, as long as we're not being formal, _she thought gleefully.

"Here 'tis is," he said, pulling out the original building plans and the blueprints. "My nephew did these. He's much younger than me, being my nephew. He's unmarried, you know," Mr. Todd rambled on, peering intently at Quistis.

Fearing he was waiting for an answer, she said, "No, I didn't realize that."

"He's right at the perfect age to marry, he's fifty you know. He'd be perfect for you. How old did you say you were?"

"I'm nineteen," Quistis said dryly.

"Oh, that's too bad, that's probably a trifle young for him, isn't it?" Mr. Todd asked, although he still appeared hopeful.

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

It was all Quistis could do to hold in her laughter as she concluded her business with the old man and left the building. _Lord! _she thought. _Where did Kaede find these people?,_

As she had promised, Sara was waiting in the Land Rover when Quistis exited the office building. The female SeeD asked the upper-classman if they had time to visit the harbor area. Even though Sara was surprised, she happily agreed. She was certainly in no hurry to return to Trabia Garden anytime soon.

On their way to the harbor, upon Sara's prompting, Quistis regaled her with what transpired at the architectural firm. She soon had Sara laughing hysterically.

The harbor turned out to be a giant hub bub of ceaseless activity. Large oil tankers were being readied to set sail. Tug boats were busy guiding empty ships in to dock and loaded vessels out in the shipping lanes. There seemed to be as many sea gulls plying their trade in the air as men on the ground helping to load and unload. There were also freighters, cruise ships and motor transport boats present.

"Wow, I had no idea the harbor would be so large," Quistis said.

"Are you kidding?" Sara asked rhetorically. "They're shipping tons of oil out of here to all over the world. And besides that, they're pulling gold and silver out of the ground hand over fist. Plus, that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak."

"The tip of the iceberg?" Quistis repeated and then laughed. "In Trabia – how very punny of you."

Sara laughed and said, "Punny? Quistis, you're becoming quite the clown." Amidst their laughter, Sara said, "By the way, why did you want to see the harbor?"

"I wanted to see what kind of transportation was available to travel to Shumi Village. I thought I would enjoy visiting there again."

"Oh wow!" Sara excitedly exclaimed. "Is it true that it's built completely underground? I've never been there – I would love to see it!"

"Yes, it's true. Maybe some time you'll be able to go there," Quistis replied tersely.

_That's the most gracious brush-off I've ever received, _Sara thought. _I wonder why it's so important for her to go alone? _

Quistis looked uncomfortably around the night club. She hadn't wanted to come here and thought they should be returning to Trabia Garden; although she felt as though she had no choice other than to say yes. After all, Sara had been courteous enough to comply with her request to visit the harbor.

_And what kind of name is 'Ladies Night Out?' _she wondered. _Is this some special type of club for women? Like a women's society? They don't have any places like this back in Balamb. And it doesn't help that it's so damn dim in here that I can hardly see anything. _

The man who was apparently their waiter stepped up to the table. Quistis peered through the dim light. _What is he wearing?! _she thought, greatly alarmed.

"How may I help you ladies?" he suavely asked.

"I'll have a Shumi vodka martini – light on the vermouth," Sara ordered, as if she were a veteran of many a night on the town.

"And you, madam?" he said, turning to Quistis.

_Is he only wearing a bow tie and – and – something else? _"I'll have a _Shumi Cola, _please."

"Very good," he said and then he left the table.

"Sara! What was our waiter wearing?"

She giggled and said, "Couldn't you tell? A bow tie and I guess you call that a male g-string."

"Oh my God!"

"What?" Sara asked innocently.

"Oh, never mind. What are you doing now?" Quistis asked, as she saw Sara rummaging through her purse.

"You pay as you go here," she explained.

"Oh," Quistis said, reaching for her purse. "What do I owe?"

"Never mind, I'll get this round, but just so you know – it's fifty Gil."

"Fifty Gil!" Quistis exclaimed, flabbergasted at the high price.

"Yeah, but there's no cover here," she answered, as way of explanation.

"I'll say," Quistis said, as she watched the bouncing behind of their waiter as he left their table.

"Aren't you too young to be legally drinking?" the female SeeD suddenly thought to ask.

"Relax, this is a frontier town. They don't have any laws like that here."

"But you're driving," Quistis was quick to point out. She hardly wanted to deliver a drunk Sara back to Trabia Garden.

"Relax, Mom. You can drive too, you know," Sara said, slightly sarcastic.

_Mom! Is that fair – just because I'm responsible? _For the first time in her life, Quistis realized she had always felt responsible – ever since she was ten years old. Back at Balamb, she had never related to her cohorts as friends. She had always acted as a surrogate mother – even to Rinoa, who she had only known for a very short time. _No wonder I'm so lonely, _she suddenly realized. _I have no friends – I don't allow them to be friends – I treat them as if they were large children. _

The waiter brought their drinks and Sara paid for them.

"What kind of a place is this?" Quistis asked.

"It's a dance club," Sara said.

"People come here to dance?" Quistis asked, perplexed now because, as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she could only see women sitting at the other tables. _Women dance with each other? _Quistis thought, becoming alarmed.

"Well, some people dance," Sara said vaguely.

As if on cue, the club band, which had been playing innocuous lounge music suddenly broke into a cover of the new Deling City Mauraders' hit, 'Wild Horses.'

"Oh, I love this song," Quistis declared.

"I love this dance," Sara murmured.

"Hmmm?" Quistis said, distracted by the music and the sudden appearance of their waiter; although he was now appareled in a form fitting black shirt and pants.

"Hey, that's our waiter," the female SeeD pointed out.

"No, now he's a dancer," Sara contradicted. "They do double duty here between acts."

Sure enough, the man began dancing, boogieing down in the latest cutting edge moves.

"He's good, isn't he?" Quistis said.

"Yeah, but he gets better," Sara said, grinning.

"He does?" the female SeeD asked, confused at Sara's meaning.

Sara ducked as the dancer's shirt was thrown in to the audience. Next his pants flew by Quistis.

"What's going on here?" Quistis asked, greatly alarmed.

"He's stripping," Sara answered.

"No, that can't be right," Quistis, the queen of denial, protested.

"Au contraire," Quistis' new friend said, and then she giggled. "What did you think _Ladies Night Out _meant?"

The dancer's g-string landed right in the middle of their table.

"Oh my," Quistis said.

Blushing furiously, she turned her head away from the dancer, who was dancing right in front of her.

"Is this possibly legal?" the female SeeD asked, with visions of their being arrested along with every other person in the club. The rest of the women in the night club were hooting and hollering.

"Of course it's legal, this is Trabia, remember," Sara reassured her. "He's very well endowed, isn't he, Quistis?"

The strawberry-blonde ignored the question, but instead asked, "Is he still there?"

Sara was now laughing hysterically, although Quistis couldn't tell if her new friend was laughing at the situation, at her or out of nervousness.

"Yep," Sara finally managed to say.

Quistis, at last, couldn't help herself and she looked back, only to discover that the young man was still cavorting directly in front of her.

"Well, I never," the young woman said.

Sara never did ascertain exactly what Quistis was referring to, because at that moment the female SeeD jumped up and ran from the club. Sara had no choice but to follow her. Outside Quistis ran to the Land Rover and got in behind the steering wheel, with Sara following closely behind.

When Sara attempted to speak, Quistis tersely interrupted, holding out her hand, "Car keys." She started the Land Rover, backed out carefully and they were soon on their way back to Trabia Garden.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you," Sara said.

"I really wasn't embarrassed," Quistis answered.

"Oh, so you liked it?" Sara said, probing.

"Well, I guess I did," Quistis admitted. "It was fun."

"Then why did you run out?" Sara asked.

"I saw someone I knew," the female SeeD said.

"Oh man!" Sara said worriedly. "Someone from Trabia Garden?"

"No."

"Oh, so it was somebody from Balamb Garden?" Sara asked.

'No."

"So you're not going to tell me who was?" Sara said.

"No, I'm not."

Sara laughed and said, "Don't sugar coat it. Tell it to me straight."

Quistis laughed.

"Well, if you saw them in the club, they really can't say anything about you, can they?" Sara said.

"They can say they saw us go in and followed us in to see what we were doing," Quistis said.

"Man, I didn't even think of that. You've got a sneaky mind, Quistis."

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."

Sara laughed and said, "That's how I meant it. Again, I'm really sorry if I caused you any trouble. I just thought you could use something to loosen up a little."

_God, am I that uptight appearing? _Quistis questioned. She left the thought unspoken, because she already knew the answer. Lastly she wondered, _What in the world was Ellone doing there? _

Squall directed Soren Martin to drop him at the harbor of Fisherman's Horizon. As he stood on the dock, he said, "Thanks." The younger man was attempting to hand over five thousand Gil, which Soren was refusing.

"What's this?" Soren demanded gruffly.

"A bonus for a job well done," Squall said.

"I'm not so pathetic that I need to take a bonus for just doing my job. When I am, I'll quit," the older man said curtly. "You were good to work with, give me a call when you need something more."

"Thanks," Squall said. "I will."

He realized he had just received the highest compliment a man such as Soren Martin handed out and it caused him to feel good. Squall lost the good feeling a few minutes later when, as he walked through town to the newly renovated railroad station, he saw Flo, the mayor's wife, walking toward him.

_Oh God save me, _he thought, although he realized it was too late for that. The middle-aged, frizzy haired blonde looked just the same – the stuff of Squall's nightmares.

"What are you doing here?" she loudly demanded.

"I'm taking the train to Esthar, if it's any of your business."

Squall attempted to step around her, but Flo moved and blocked his path.

"Just hold on a minute," she said. "I'm not finished with you yet. What's the idea of abducting forty of our technicians to work on your Garden?"

_Forty of their technicians? What is she talking about? I think the little boy has finally taken his finger out and let the water loose in her brain, _the young man thought.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Squall said.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easy," Flo insisted. "I want to speak with your superior."

"I can give you his phone number," Squall offered.

"Don't be such a smart aleck," Flo retorted. "You're here, so your Garden must be close."

Squall sighed in frustration. "The Garden is back in Balamb. I'm on my way to Esthar. I'm talking to the Headmaster today on the phone and I'll tell him about this."

This time Squall managed to step by Flo without knocking her to the ground, even though he wouldn't have minded.

"We're registering a formal protest," she shouted at his retreating back.

"Whatever," Squall muttered.

"Headmaster, this is Squall," he said into his cell phone.

"Yes, Squall, go ahead."

Squall understood a cell phone was not a secure way to discuss confidential information. "I've been to the initial site and found nothing worth reporting. I'm currently in F.H. and heading east in search of information.

He knew that Cid would understand that he was headed to Esthar. "Okay, Squall. Let me know when you have something to report."

"Very good, sir," Squall said and he clicked off his cell phone.

Cid had just informed him not to call until he had something definite to report. _Sounds as if he's doing better, _Squall thought. He decided to rent a room at the so called inn in town. The young man ruefully realized it resembled more of a back room at a garage with a bunk bed in it. Squall took a shower and then dressed in the only other outfit he had brought. After all, he was going to Esthar, he didn't want to appear gamy.

Squall was impressed with the quality of the work performed on the renovated train station. _I wonder if the mayor made Esthar fix it or he allowed his technicians to work on it. _It was then that he realized that he forgot to tell Cid about the mayor and Flo's protest concerning the technicians working on the Garden. _Oh to heck with it. I'll tell him the next time I call. He's got enough on his mind without having to worry about that nonsense. _

The young man settled down in his sleeping compartment, laying down on the small bed. He was very tired and hoped to obtain a few hours of sleep. His last thoughts were of Rinoa, wondering how she was holding up with him not there.


	7. Chapter 7

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Seven

A large group of Timber businessmen and women were milling around, talking quietly amongst themselves following Rinoa's speech at the Chamber of Commerce meeting.

"Your speech was awesome, Rinoa," Zone praised.

"Yes, great, sir," Watts said. "Just great."

_How did this all happen? And so quickly. I just came to Timber for a few days to help out and now I'm launching a political career. Am I really doing the right thing? And I still haven't been able to tell Squall. I don't even know where he is. I have to remember to call Selphie tomorrow and let her know what's going on. _

Zone broke Rinoa's reverie by nudging her gently.

"There's Worth Hamilton. He wants to speak with you."

"That slimeball," Rinoa muttered.

"Now, now," Zone said. "Leave the past to the past. Wasn't that your message in your speech? He's still very influential in Timber."

"He was by far the worst Timber collaborator with Galbadia," Rinoa snapped.

Almost as if he could feel the impact of Rinoa's statement from across the room, the man in question turned and smiled at her, obviously quite satisfied with himself.

_Damn the smugness of the man, _Rinoa thought angrily.

Worth Hamilton was a short, stout man in his mid-thirties. He had black hair and owned the fleshy, porcine features that he deserved. He waddled over to Rinoa and grasped her by the hand.

"Miss Heartilly, an honor I'm sure," he wheezed.

Zone grimaced because he was certain what was about to occur.

"That's Ms. Heartilly," Rinoa said, as she snatched her hand back.

"Oh ho," he said, chuckling. "A women's libber, I should have known. I just wanted you to know that I'm in full agreement with the tenets of your speech – let bygones be bygones."

"I was referring to Galbadian citizens, not Timber citizens who collaborated with the illegal Galbadian regime," Rinoa retorted, pushing herself up next to his face.

Worth Hamilton flushed bright red in anger. "I was attempting to work from the inside."

"No," Rinoa contradicted. "You were filling your pockets with ill gotten gains made from charging exorbitant prices for necessities and then splitting the profits with Galbadia."

"I didn't come here to be insulted," he snapped.

"Oh, where do you usually go?" Rinoa said sarcastically.

"It would seem to me that it would behoove you politically to cultivate my friendship," he said haughtily.

"What would behoove me would be to see you brought up on the charges of war crimes perpetuated against the citizens of Timber. You sir, are a boil on the back side of Timber," Rinoa retorted angrily.

"Get out of my face," Worth Hamilton said savagely, pushing her roughly away.

Rinoa tumbled easily to the floor. **CRACK! **Zone hit Worth Hamilton with a beautiful right cross, snapping his head back.

"Ow! Ow!" Zone howled, shaking his right fist, while falling to his knees. Some businessmen, led by Robin Sheridan, a tall, good looking, blond-haired younger man rushed to Rinoa's aid and helped her regain her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked, greatly concerned.

"I'm fine," Rinoa said. "I've had tougher fights with Bite Bugs."

The crowd laughed in appreciation of her courage and élan.

"That man assaulted me! I want him arrested," Worth Hamilton exclaimed, pointing at Zone.

"Only after you attacked Ms. Heartilly. We'll have no truck with women beaters here. Do you wish to press charges, Ms. Heartilly?" Robin asked.

"No, let him go," she said.

"Your graciousness is only equaled by your beauty," Robin Sheridan said. "Show Mr. Hamilton out," he ordered.

Just before being ejected from the building, Worth Hamilton wrested himself from the grasp of the two men, who were 'escorting' him out and turned to face the crowd.

"You've made yourself one powerful enemy this afternoon, Heartilly," he thundered.

"Aw, get over yourself," Mr. Sheridan retorted. "She's shaking with fear."

As they forced Hamilton outside, Robin called out, "Good riddance."

By this time, Watts had helped the still whimpering Zone to his feet. Rinoa kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thank you for coming to my defense. That was very brave of you."

Before he could respond, Robin Sheridan grasped Rinoa's right hand and slightly bowed. "It would be my privilege to escort you to a light repast of supper so we could discuss further your future plans for Timber."

"I accept, Mr. Sheridan," Rinoa said gracefully.

Several hours later, Rinoa was sitting on the side of her bed as she called her comrade on her cell phone.

"Hello," Zone answered.

"Hi, it's me," Rinoa said.

Purposely baiting her, Zone asked, "So how was your date with Robin Sheridan?"

"It wasn't a date!" Rinoa insisted. "Don't even go there, Zone."

When Zone chuckled, Rinoa said, "Oh, I get it, very funny. As a matter of fact, he had some good ideas on things I should address first once I'm elected."

"Good," Zone responded. "I'm glad to see you're gathering some support from the business community. By the way, that was some act you put on there with Worth Hamilton."

"Whatever do you mean?" Rinoa asked, her voice full of mock innocence.

"You played him like he was a snook and you were a master fisherman."

Rinoa laughed and said, "When did you figure it out?"

"Not until this evening," he explained. "Suddenly I thought – wait a minute, since when is Rinoa so easy to knock down? "

"Well, you sold it when you hit him. That was a good punch, by the way. Is your hand okay?"

"Thanks. Yeah, I soaked it in some ice water."

"Do you think anybody else realized I took a dive?" the dark-haired woman asked.

"No, not a chance," Zone answered. "Remember, I was there after you left. No one suspected a thing."

"Good, although I'm not so sure about Robin Sheridan."

"Why? What did he say?" he asked.

"He said something like he'd never seen such acting out at a Chamber of Commerce meeting before. But he'll never say anything."

"No," Zone agreed. "How could he?"

"Plus I think he was secretly amused."

"But still, you might have been better served if you had made friends with Worth Hamilton," Zone said.

"If I have to make friends with a snake in the grass like him to get elected, I'd rather not be elected."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," the man said.

"Did you have any luck with setting up for tomorrow?" Rinoa asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. It's all arranged for one in the afternoon. I'll pick you up at nine – you will be ready, right?"

Rinoa was well known for hating to get up early. "Yes, I'll be ready," she said patiently. "And you'll be picking me up in a rental car."

"Okay – darn it," Zone agreed.

Rinoa laughed quietly and said, "Good night, Zone."

"Good night, princess."

Upon their arrival at Trabia Garden, Tony Gerard greeted them close to where the front gate should have been.

"Welcome back, ladies. I hope your mission was successful," he greeted jovially.

_Was he waiting for us? _Quistis thought. _I'm glad Sara didn't get drunk, that would have been awful to greet him that way. _

"We got the plans, headmaster. I'm going to take them to Franklyn right now," Sara said excitedly. She was also clutching her bag of purchases as she scampered off.

Tony smiled at Quistis. "I hope Sara wasn't any problem. She's been known to misbehave from time to time."

Quistis flushed remembering the night club. _If he only knew, _she thought. "No, she was fine," the young woman said.

"Good. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me in my tent this evening," Tony invited.

_A date! He's asking me on a date? _she thought. _I can't go on a date with the headmaster. _"I would love to," Quistis said. _Oh no! Why did I say that? _

"That's great!" Tony said. "Shall we say around six?" When Quistis nodded her agreement, Tony continued. "I had our computer tech squad hook up a computer in my office. I thought we might watch a movie after we ate."

"That sounds fine," Quistis said. "See you then."

Sara held up a very stylish dress. "Wear this one, Quistis," she whined. "You'll look awesome!"

"No, I'll just look silly wearing something that short with long winter underwear," Quistis pointed out.

"Then lose the long underwear," Sara said, ever the pragmatist.

"Why? Don't I want to be warm tonight?"

"Just trust me. Wear the dress and this sexy stuff underneath," Sara insisted, holding the apparel in question out to her.

"Could I have some privacy, please?" Quistis asked archly.

Sara left the tent, but a minute later she and Kaede had lifted the tent flap slightly and were peering in at Quistis. "Hooray! She's putting on the outfit."

"Shh," Kaede cautioned. "Keep your voice down, Sara. She'll hear you."

A card table had been set up in Tony's office. Quistis and the headmaster were sitting on opposite sides.

"You look quite lovely tonight, Quistis," Tony said smoothly. "Your outfit brings out your natural beauty."

"Um – thank you," Quistis responded awkwardly. _What's wrong with me? I've been complimented before. I always feel as though I'm fifteen years old when I'm around him. _

A meal consisting of Adamantoise soup, Behemoth steaks, Shumi mashed potatoes and Winhill corn on the cob was served by Kaede and Sara. Quistis suddenly realized what Sara's mysterious purchases had probably been. _I wonder if this evening was really Tony's idea or Kaede and Sara talked him into it. I wouldn't put anything past them. No wonder Sara was probing me over what I thought about Tony, _Quistis mused.

The headmaster adroitly led the dinner conversation from small talk about Trabia Garden and asking Quistis what she thought about the City of Trabia to the sharing of personal information. It turned out that Tony's father was the president of the Bank of Trabia and that the young man hoped to follow in his father's footsteps some day.

"So you were a SeeD at the age of fifteen?" Tony said. "That's very impressive."

Quistis flushed and explained, "I was very fortunate and received a lot of help."

"I know better than that, I'm certain that you earned it all on your own," Tony responded gracefully.

Once again Quistis felt emotionally lost at sea due to the headmaster's praises. _What is going on? Why am I feeling so ill at ease? _

"This meal is delicious," Quistis said.

"Yes, it is," Tony agreed. " Sara and Kaede prepared the entire dinner."

"They've been busy little beavers today," the young woman said ironically.

There was a twinkle in Tony's eyes, but he never gave away a thing. "Yes, they have," he said.

After Quistis declined dessert, Kaede and Sara efficiently cleared the table of dirty dishes. The young man gestured at the twenty-seven inch flat screen monitor that was hooked to the computer residing on his desk.

"Would you like to stay and watch a movie?" the handsome young man asked.

"Sure, sounds like fun."

"This is brand new, it was just released today. You're on the cover. I had Sara pick it up for me today in Trabia," Tony said, handing the DVD in its box to Quistis.

Glancing down at it, the young woman wasn't surprised to see a picture of her, Squall, Rinoa and the three other young heroes who defeated Sorceress Ultimecia and put an end to time compression. _That little booger. She never let on, _Quistis thought.

The movie was a dramatic documentary. It was factual and had a gravelly throated narrator. Real life clips (such as one or the other of them being interviewed or shots of them going about their daily lives) were interspersed with dramatic scenes portrayed by well known actors. Quistis recognized several names of the actors listed as cast on the back of the box. _Oooh, Rinoa's going to like being played by that actress – she's beautiful. _

"Did you know that Cid always shares his profits with us and the White SeeDs?" Tony suddenly asked.

"No," Quistis answered. "Cid never discussed any of his financial dealings with us."

"I really look up to Cid. I think he's a great man," Tony declared.

The female SeeD didn't know how to respond to such an obvious case of hero worship. To Quistis – Cid was just Cid, with all of his obvious flaws and virtues. Tony inserted the DVD in to the computer and turned off the dim lighting in the tent. The glow from the video screen was more than sufficient light for Tony and Quistis.

The intro to the film was accompanied by the song 'Wild Horses.' _This is the second time I've heard this song today, _Quistis thought surprised.

"I love this song," Quistis said. "This is a current hit, this must be a brand new movie."

"Told ya," Tony said and then smiled.

There were clips of various interviews, predominantly with Quistis, broken up by dramatic scenes.

"That actress they got to play me is gorgeous. I have nothing to complain about," Quistis commented.

"I don't agree," Tony said. "She's no way as beautiful as you are."

The young man leaned over and kissed her. Quistis sat stunned. Tony sat blushing.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I couldn't help myself."

"Shut up," Quistis said.

"What?"

"Just shut up," she said again.

Quistis leaned over and embraced him, while kissing him intensely. The taste of Tony's sweet lips thrilled her. His hands gently roved her body. Quistis' outfit fell away. She gasped as the touch of his hands felt electric on her skin. _It's been so long, _she thought achingly.

Early the next morning, Kaede and Sara were speaking softly in the tube tent that she and Quistis slept in.

"What happened?" Kaede asked.

"I'm not sure, but Quistis didn't show up in here until the middle of the night," Sara answered.

"Hot damn! I think we did it," Kaede said happily.

Quistis laid extra quietly in her sleeping bag with a smile on her lips, remembering the evening before. _But these girls are so nosy. _

Zone picked up Rinoa and Angelo, in front of the Timber Hotel at nine o'clock sharp. He was driving a red Lancer, one of the world's most top rated sports cars. Rinoa climbed carefully in to the car, while Angelo leaped into the small compartment in the back. Zone pulled into traffic and drove out of Timber. They were soon on the highway that cut through the mountains from Timber to Winhill.

"I'm impressed," Zone greeted. "You were out here on time."

"Grrr," Rinoa growled, causing Angelo to bark.

Zone laughed and said, "Oh yeah, I forgot how friendly you are first thing in the morning."

"You know, I told you to rent a car, but I thought you would know I meant a family sedan, not a flashing red sports car. Think of my image," Rinoa complained.

"I don't think you have to act like an ol' stick in the mud just to run for office either," Zone responded.

Rinoa laughed and said, "At least it'll make the ride more fun, driving with the top down. I'll have to brush my hair out after we get there, but it'll be better than you trying to look up my skirt all the way there."

Zone grimaced at her and retorted, "Looking up your skirt is a lot more fun than watching you brush your hair out."

Ignoring his latest feeble attempt at humor, Rinoa asked, "What time is the speech?"

"One o'clock. We should get to Winhill in about three hours."

"Oh, by the way, I called Selphie this morning and told her about my decision to run for city council," the young woman said.

"What'd she say?"

Rinoa laughed and said, "You know Selphie. She got all excited and wanted to plan some kind of a big outdoor party with speeches and games. I had to talk her out of it."

"Why? I think it's a great idea."

"Yeah, but there isn't enough time to plan something like that. The election is so close," the sorceress explained.

"Yeah, that's true."

"I just wish I could get word to Squall about it."

"He'll hear it about it, I'm sure."

"Thanks Zone, that really reassures me. I was thinking you need to help me obtain a rental. I have to get out of that hotel. It's too confining – and too expensive," Rinoa said.

"No problem," Zone said. "There's a house for rent on my block."

"Good," the sorceress said. "Let's do that when we get back."

Rinoa noticed the copy of **The Timber Times **laying on the floor at her feet and she picked it up. Opening it, the dark-haired woman immediately observed a favorable article concerning her political campaign.

"Their editorial also recommends you hands down," Zone commented.

"That's great."

"By the way, someone snitched to the newspaper," the man said.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a short article about what happened between you and Worth Hamilton after the meeting," Zone explained.

Rinoa stared at him archly.

"No, no, it wasn't me," Zone protested. "In fact, I didn't want that to become public knowledge. This will embarrass Worth Hamilton even more and make him a worse enemy of yours."

"Who do you think is responsible?"

"For my money, I think your date called the newspaper," the man answered.

"It was not a date!" Zone and Rinoa both cried out simultaneously.

Rinoa laughed and said, "Zone, you're terrible. Stop it!"

"No, seriously, I think Robin Sheridan did it. He hates Worth Hamilton and wouldn't miss an opportunity to humiliate him."

"Well, then, that's twice Robin has shown good taste; once when he decided to hate Worth Hamilton and twice, when he asked me out on a date," Rinoa said, and then she stuck her tongue out at her compatriot.

Rinoa turned on the car radio; the song 'Wild Horses' was playing.

"Oh, I love this song. It's by the _Deling City Mauraders, _you know," the dark-haired woman said.

"Yep," Zone agreed. "I know their lead singer."

"Oh, come on now, Zone. You know Nick Yaegger?" the young woman said, total disbelief in her tone.

"Yeah, I went to school with him in Deling."

"That's so cool!" she exclaimed.

Rinoa's boyfriend might have been the hero of the free world, but Nick Yaegger was a rock superstar.

"The next time they play anywhere around us, we'll go and I'll get us backstage," Zone said.

"That'll be awesome! Remember Zone – I'm holding you to this." _Boy, if I could meet Nick Yaegger, I bet Quistis and 'em would be so jealous, _Rinoa thought gloating.


	8. Chapter 8

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Eight

"And let me say in conclusion, in all sincerity, that even though, if elected, I would be serving on the Timber city council, I will also be looking out for and working for Winhill just as much as Timber, if not more so. This is because Timber will have other proponents and representatives to look out for their best interests, while you, the citizens of Winhill, will only have one person on the council to represent you. If elected, I pledge to open an office here in Winhill and will be here at least once a week to serve as a sounding board for your suggestions and complaints."

It was two thirty in the afternoon in Winhill and Rinoa was nearing the finish of her speaking engagement.

"I would like to thank each and every one of you for your interest in what I had to say and for the opportunity to speak here this afternoon," Rinoa said.

Even though, due to the size of the small town, the crowd was less populated than in other towns, their applause following Rinoa's speech was just as thunderous. Amidst the din, Rinoa stepped back from the microphone and Angelo ran in a circle barking. Mitchell Paige, the owner of the Flower Restaurant and Inn and considered by many to be the unofficial mayor of Winhill, took the young woman's place at the mike.

The redheaded man, who was in his mid-thirties, said, nodding to Rinoa, "Thank you so much, Ms. Heartilly for speaking to us this afternoon." Turning back to the crowd, he said, "Ms. Heartilly has graciously agreed to address all concerns and questions from individuals."

Zone helped Rinoa and Angelo step down from the speaker's stand and then accompanied them closely through the crowd.

Rinoa, with Angelo at her side, walked into the fields immediately outside of Winhill in the late afternoon light. They were followed by Zone at a discreet distance. _Whew, I'm glad that's over. I get so nervous before I have to speak. But I guess I'm lucky. Zone tells me that I look supremely confident when I step up to talk. Maybe that comes from fighting in so many battles. When it comes down to it, having speech anxiety in front of a crowd of people is absolutely nothing compared to life and death. Zone said Mitchell set every thing up. He did a great job. I want him in charge of the Winhill office. I'm sure it would only take him a couple of hours a day._

The young woman and her pet stepped down a gently sloping field of tall grass. At the bottom, where the ground leveled, Laguna Loire knelt in front of Raine's grave.

Angelo barked and Rinoa said, "I thought I'd find you here."

"Oh," Laguna cried out in surprise.

He whirled around on his knees and fell slightly off balance.

"You startled me," Laguna said, as he scrambled to his feet.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you," the young woman said.

Laguna laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. Kiros and Ward were always saying that I would get us back attacked all the time because I couldn't hear anything."

"I was sure I saw you in the back of the crowd."

"Yeah, I was there," Laguna admitted. "Great job on the speech, and congratulations on your campaign. I'm sure you're going to do wonderfully."

"Thank you, but this must seem like small potatoes to you. I'm just running for a seat on a city council, you're president of a great country."

"I'm just a figurehead," the older man contradicted. "Kiros and the city government run everything. Is Squall with you?" Laguna tentatively asked.

"No, I'm afraid not."

A look of disappointment quickly passed Laguna's features. _The poor man,_ Rinoa thought. _Some mistakes just can't be paid for. Squall probably will never forgive him._ Rinoa fought off her inclination to give him a hug. She was afraid it would just embarrass the middle-aged man.

"He's on some kind of secret mission," Rinoa explained. "It must be very sensitive, Cid assigned it to him personally."

Laguna visibly blanched.

"Oh?" he said weakly.

_What's wrong with him?_ Rinoa wondered.

Appearing to pull himself together, Laguna said firmly, "Maybe I'd better call Cid and see if it's something I can help with."

"Oh, if you do, please don't mention that you talked to me. I wouldn't want to get Squall into trouble."

"Certainly, I wouldn't dream of mentioning you. Maybe I'll go call him now. It's been wonderful to see you again, dear. Give me a call sometime and bring that boyfriend of your's with you," Laguna said jovially and then he strided purposefully off.

_I wonder what that was all about,_ Rinoa thought.

Squall reached Esthar just after lunch. Despite the relative comfort of the train, Squall was glad the journey was over – for the time being at least. To better work out the stiffness he was feeling, Squall decided to walk to the palace. The city looked exactly the same to the young man. He hadn't visited the exotic city in months. In fact, the truth be told, Esthar set his teeth on edge.

The entire environment and its citizens just seemed too foreign to him. Squall didn't, as of yet, have enough psychological insight into himself to realize Esthar made him extremely uncomfortable because it was the home of his father. In fact, he never thought of Laguna in terms of him being his father. To Squall, with his emotional blinders on, Laguna was only the bumbling president of Esthar.

Approaching the guards at the front doors, Squall felt his gut tighten. He always felt apprehensive when coming to the palace. The guards naturally recognized Squall immediately and stood tightly at attention.

"Is Ellone here?" the young man asked.

"No," one of the guards said. "Ellone hasn't been in the palace for at least three days and we have no idea where she is."

The other guard said, "President Loire isn't here either."

"Whatever," Squall muttered. "Is Kiros here?"

"No, he isn't," the first guard spoke. "But I believe that he is presently at his café."

_Café?_ Squall thought. He suddenly remembered that Rinoa had told him that Kiros had opened a new nightclub that was considered the new hot in-spot. Rinoa had expressed a strong desire to attend. At the time, Squall didn't feel as though he wanted the hassle of going out to some place as far away as Esthar. Now he found himself wishing he had. Squall had no idea when he might see Rinoa again and he greatly missed her.

"It's located in the downtown district," the same guard said.

"Yeah, okay, thanks," Squall said vaguely, momentarily distracted by his feelings.

The young man traveled to downtown Esthar via the mechanical transport. He had no problem discovering where his destination was located because of its popularity. The first person he had asked was able to direct him there. It was so much larger than Squall expected. In fact, it was the largest night club that he had ever seen. The building resembled more of a giant warehouse than an intimate night spot.

A bored appearing employee stood serving as a doorman under a glittering electrical sign that announced the _Café Kiros._ The doorman watched totally disinterested as the young man approached him. Reaching the door, Squall halfway expected to be halted by the doorman or to discover the door locked, but it yielded easily to his grasp and the employee didn't say a word.

The young man stepped into the cool, dimly lit night club and was immediately greeted by a young blonde woman wearing a too short black dress. She was in her early twenties and owned attractive, although brittle, features.

"Good afternoon, sir," she greeted Squall. "Would you prefer to sit at the bar or a table?"

"Is Kiros here?" the young man asked. "Tell him Squall Leonhart is waiting to see him."

At the sound of his name, the hostess' eyes grew wide in surprise. Someone nearby gasped and heads of people all around the nightclub were craning in an attempt to obtain a glimpse of Squall. He was so accustomed to his unwanted notoriety that he ignored it completely.

"I'll get him right away," the young woman said and she quickly hurried away. In a very short time, Kiros stepped out of a nearby door and he motioned for Squall to come forward.

Grasping the approaching Squall by the hand, Kiros said jovially, "Welcome Squall, how good to see you again." Turning to the hostess, the older man said, "I do not wish to be disturbed. Come in, Squall."

Closing the door firmly behind them, Kiros said, "You remember Ward."

He gestured at the big man, who was seated behind a desk obviously eating his lunch.

"Certainly," Squall said, and he nodded at Ward.

The big man returned the nod, an ironic smile dancing across his lips.

"What can I do for you?" Kiros asked

"I'm looking for Edea."

"Oh?" the older man said, arching an eyebrow. "Is she missing?"

"Yes, and Cid is very worried."

"I imagine he would be, but why come here? I haven't seen her."

"I was actually looking for Ellone," Squall admitted. "But she doesn't seem to be around."

"No, and I'm not sure where she is either."

Squall looked Kiros firmly in the eye. "I think if anyone had any idea where Edea was, it would be you," he said.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I really couldn't say."

"You mean you don't know where she's at, or you really couldn't say?" the younger man said.

"I really couldn't say, but I will tell you this, if anybody knows where she is, it's the Shumi," Kiros said.

"Okay, thanks."

"What for? I didn't do anything," the older man said.

"I really couldn't say," Squall said dryly.

After Squall had left, Ward said "….."

"I know, but what else could I do?" Kiros said sadly. "I'm positive that Ellone is up there too, but they won't listen to her. You know as well as I do – the whole thing just isn't right."

Quistis stepped out of her tent and was happily astonished to observe the construction that was occurring around her. It appeared to the young woman that every one of the forty technicians was involved with a different aspect of the building trade. Franklyn hurried by her at a distance carrying some papers. When the large man saw her, he stopped and shouted, but the sharp wind blew his words away.

Quistis imagined, since he was waving the papers at her, that he was expressing his gratitude for the building plans. The young woman smiled and waved her acknowledgement. Walking on, Quistis was delighted to see that the craftsmen were beginning to work on the Garden's lower levels.

_If anyone can repair the MD level, it'll be them,_ she thought. _Who knows? We still might have to use it someday._

When the female SeeD walked to the front, she was surprised to observe that the Ragnarok was sitting outside the would be structure. Selphie, Kaede and Sara were standing by it, laughing and talking. Before the young woman could decide what her next move was going to be, Selphie spotted her and called her over.

"Hey Quistis, how are you?" Selphie asked.

"Good. What are you doing here?"

"Xu asked me to bring up some SeeDs and upper-classmen to help out," the green-eyed young woman explained.

"That's great! Thanks for bringing them and I'll have to remember to thank Xu too."

"Wait 'til you hear this," Selphie said excitedly. "Rinoa's running for city council in Timber."

_I guess Rinoa has found just hanging around the Garden in Balamb rather empty too. But running for city council? How strange,_ Quistis thought. "What does Squall think about this?"

"Oh, he doesn't know yet. He's been off on a secret mission since the day after you left. No one has any idea where he is or what he's doing – except, of course, for Cid," the brunette SeeD explained.

"A secret mission? Wow, all kinds of things have been happening since I left."

"So been doing anything interesting?" Selphie asked, mock innocence in her tone.

_They told her everything,_ Quistis thought, slightly alarmed. "Well, Sara and I went to Trabia yesterday to get the building plans for the Garden."

The brunette SeeD laughed and said, "I heard you went clubbing."

Quistis blushed slightly, which did not go unnoticed by the other three young women. "We did take in some sights. Maybe Sara can take you too."

Selphie flushed and quickly said, "No, I'm not ready for that kind of education." Sara and Kaede laughed at her. To get the attention back off her and onto Quistis, Selphie asked, "So how do you like the headmaster?"

_Those brats! They told her that too,_ Quistis thought. "He's okay," she said, attempting to sound careless.

"That's not what I heard, I heard he was a lot more than just okay."

As luck would have it, before the older woman could respond, Tony stepped outside the Garden. _Oh dear, he's probably looking for me,_ she thought.

"Headmaster!" Sara called out. "She's over here."

Tony turned and saw them. _I could just kill her,_ Quistis thought.

After the headmaster walked over, Sara introduced him to Selphie.

"Happy to meet you," Tony said.

Selphie cut her eyes to Kaede and Sara and winked, as if to say, _You're right, he's gorgeous._

The young man didn't miss that obvious interaction and cut the conversation short. He turned to Quistis and said, "Please drop by my office later, when you get a chance."

Later Quistis sat on Sara's cot and touched up her make up. She had not gone directly to Tony's office because she found it far too embarrassing in front of the young women to follow after him as if she were a puppy. And yet wasn't she refusing a direct order? Who was she to assume that his request wasn't work related?

_This is why it isn't good to get involved with co-workers. Maybe I should end this right now before it gets more untidy. And I wish I could tell Sara to quit telling people and talking about it. But if I do, then I'm adding validity to what they only suspect now. And after all – we have nothing to be ashamed of. We're both staff members and of legal age. Still, I'm gonna tell Tony we need to cool it for awhile._

Upon leaving the tent, Quistis couldn't help but look around to see if Kaede or Sara were anywhere around. She walked directly to the headmaster's tent and lifted the flap slightly.

"Tony, are you free?" she asked.

"Come in, come in," he answered happily.

The handsome young man was standing behind his desk and Quistis stepped up to him. They immediately embraced and then kissed. Stepping back slightly, Tony said, "Now that scene with the girls was awkward."

Quistis laughed and said, "You think?"

"I suppose we'd better be discreet from now on," Tony admitted.

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing; unless we just call the whole thing off."

The young man's face crashed into desolation. "Oh no, don't ever say that. I'm not willing to even think about that. Now that I've finally found you, I'm never letting you go."

Relief flowed through Quistis. Up until that very second, she hadn't realized how important he already was to her. She kissed him again and then held him in a long hug.

Quistis finally dropped her arms and stepped back. "I suppose according to our plan of discretion, I'd better go out and see what I can help with."

"Yes, I suppose that would be wise," the headmaster said, disappointment evident in his voice.

"I'll see you later," she said.

The strawberry-blonde haired young woman stepped toward the flaps of the tent. Once there, she hesitated and then turned and flew back to him. Quistis gripped him in a full embrace. She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him deeply. _I'll be discreet tomorrow,_ she thought.

Zone picked Rinoa up in front of the Timber Hotel the next day. She had no official campaign duties so she was wearing a white blouse and blue jeans. Angelo had been left curled up on her bed in the hotel room.

Pulling up in front of her, Zone said, "Aw, where's your short black skirt? I thought you said you wanted to look nice now that you were back in Timber."

Rinoa laughed and said, "It's my day off. By the way, you need to help me buy a cheap car. This is way too impractical to expect you to have to drag me everywhere, plus it's too hard to bring Angelo with us."

"No problem," the man said. "We can do that this afternoon. Hop on."

Rinoa secured herself on the back of the huge motorcycle and Zone took off. She had to admit that it was a thrill to cut through traffic like a knife through soft butter when she didn't have to worry about keeping her skirt down or holding her pet.

They rode into the large residential section of Timber. There was street after street of pleasing appearing houses. Zone pulled to a stop in his driveway. Rinoa saw a pretty house that was painted light green with white trim and appearing well cared for. Once inside, the young woman was very impressed. The entire house, except for the kitchen and bathrooms, had deep pile blue carpet. There was a comfortable appearing long couch with a fashionable coffee table in front of it. There was also a love seat and two upholstered chairs.

Zone had a complete home entertainment center in the living room with a huge computer in the corner. The dining room held a dining table with six chairs and a counter with high stools that separated the kitchen from the dining room.

Rinoa whistled and praised, "Very snazzy, Zone. Municipal planning must pay off."

Zone laughed and said, "I just decided I was going to be comfortable for one time in my life. I'll be paying this stuff off until I die."

"You deserve to live comfortably," Rinoa said seriously.

"Thanks. Come on, I'll get us a drink."

Zone walked into the kitchen and Rinoa hopped up on one of the high stools.

"What would you like?"

"Just a Shumi diet soda," the young woman answered.

"Aw, you're no fun. Don't you want at least a beer?"

"You trying to get me smashed so early in the day?"

He laughed and said, "It couldn't hurt. You're always so tense."

Zone returned with an ale for himself and a diet soda for Rinoa. He hoisted himself up on a high stool next to her.

"Yesterday when we were walking through that crowd, I realized how easily something could have gone wrong," he said.

"Zone -," Rinoa began.

"Let me finish. You just never know what kind of crazy is out there. I really wish you would let me hire a body guard. There's a guy in Balamb, Soren Martin, who comes highly recommended. There's already plenty of money in the campaign fund. We can afford him and it would make sense to be safe," Zone entreated.

"Angelo is all the bodyguard I need. She protected me all the way through Sorceress Ultimecia. And you'll be around too. Now I really don't want to hear any more about it. I need to feel free to live my life – not hiding behind some bodyguard."

"Okay, but if you change your mind, please tell me."

Zone set his ale down on the counter and said, "The house I rented for you is four doors down. Wanna go down and look at it?"

"For sure!" Rinoa said happily. "And then we'll go and buy me a car."


	9. Chapter 9

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Nine

A/N I'm very sorry, it's refusing to read my scene breaks

Squall traveled immediately to the train station after leaving the _Kiros Café. _He had no desire to spend even one extra minute in Esthar, if he didn't have to. He was disappointed when he learned the next train traveling to F.H. didn't leave for several hours. The young man went ahead and purchased his ticket and then decided what to do next. Squall felt as though he really had no information to report to Cid, so there was no need to attempt to contact him.

All he had so far was a vague hint. _Why would Edea be at Shumi Village?_ Squall wondered. _And even if she had gone there, why wouldn't she have first told Cid?_ The young man wanted to call Rinoa, but felt as though it would just be an exercise in futility. There was absolutely nothing he was allowed to tell her, except that he was okay. It never occurred to Squall that Rinoa would be delighted to learn that or that she might have information that she would like to impart to him.

_It would be all so much easier, if I could call Selphie or Zell and have them pick me up with the Ragnarok. Damn Cid for his not trusting anyone else with this. He trusts us to possibly kill his wife when she was a sorceress, but now that she's not – he doesn't trust people to know that she's missing and possibly ran off from him. I might have found her by now._ A sudden insight occurred to Squall. _Maybe he doesn't want me to find her immediately. He's hoping she'll return by herself so he'll never have to know where she was and yet then he can tell her he sent me to look for her._

The city of Esthar never did anything in half measures. The train station was no ordinary depot. There were malls that were less extravagant. There were many shops, a couple of restaurants and even a hotel. Squall decided to not totally waste his time waiting for his transportation to arrive, and went in search of a laundromat. After all, he was already wearing his last change of clothing and didn't have any idea when he might return to Balamb Garden.

Three hours later, he climbed aboard the train bound for Fisherman's Horizon.

New scene

"Squall is on his way here," Laguna said.

"No!" Edea protested.

"Yep, any time now, he'll show up."

"How do you know?" Edea asked.

"Because Cid sent him on an ultra-secret mission, one that Cid won't even tell me about. I called him up to feel him out. He stonewalled me at every turn."

"That's so unlike Cid," the dark-haired woman said. "He ordinarily trusts you implicitly.

"Yep, that's what I thought too."

But how do you know specifically that he will find me?" she asked.

"Squall's the best – he'll find you; the only question is when he shows up here – not if."

"I stayed here too long," Edea said mournfully. "It's my fault. I didn't know Cid would miss me so quickly."

"It's my fault too. I wanted you to stay. What are you doing to do?" Laguna asked.

"I might as well stay here now and wait for him. You know Squall – he's very circumspect. What are you going to do?" the former sorceress said.

"I have to go, I'm afraid. I have some business back home that can't wait."

The middle-aged man and woman embraced and kissed intensely.

Stepping back, Laguna said, "I only pray this isn't the end for us."

And then he turned and walked away.

New Scene

It was late in the evening at Trabia Garden. Quistis and Tony were saying good night in his tent.

"I wish you could spend the night," he said wistfully.

"I do too, but it will cause too much gossip. There's already too much as it is."

"There's gossip about us?" the young man said, surprised. "I haven't heard any."

Quistis laughed and said, "Of course not. You're the headmaster. No one is going to say anything around you."

"You can hardly blame them. They don't have anything to occupy their time except for working, eating and sleeping. It has to be really boring for them at their age."

"Yeah, you're right," the young woman agreed. "I'm gonna talk to Selphie. She once got us all together to play music at a concert. I know she would love to do the same thing here. In fact, her goal was to do it here someday."

"That would be great if they could provide some entertainment for everyone," Tony said. "I've been thinking that it's time to start classes again. I'm going to ask the technicians to concentrate on putting up a few classrooms."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Quistis said. "Try to get a little normalcy going again."

"And of course I want you to be an instructor here," the headmaster said.

"No, I don't think so," the young woman contradicted. "I didn't come here to be an instructor, I came here just to help get the Garden back on its feet."

"You've lost your confidence," Tony said plaintively.

_Lost my confidence! Me? _But then Quistis remembered her student – Seifer – being placed in the disciplinary room for failing a field exam. _What kind of sick joke was that? No student had ever been punished for failing a field exam and most do – at least their first time. And then they made me step down from being an instructor. They told me I had no leadership qualities. I had the most students taking their field exams that day. Does that sound like I didn't have leadership qualities? Then when I made myself available to Squall, since I was no long his instructor, he shut me down cruelly. When Cid abdicated he chose a mere boy to run the Garden; a boy who didn't even want the job. He could have at least chosen me and Xu together, if he didn't think I could handle it on my own. Finally I became so confused about my feelings, I wasn't even sure whether I cared about Squall as a woman would or I just wanted to be his surrogate mother. They call me the Ice Queen – why? Don't I have the same physical desires and needs that any other woman has? I just became too frightened to risk and be hurt again after Squall. _

Tony was standing, waiting patiently for her reply.

"You're right," Quistis said. "I lost my confidence."

"Then you'll be an instructor again?"

"Certainly," the young woman said firmly.

The two lovers kissed once more, wished each other good night and Quistis raised the tent flap, and disappeared into the night.

New Scene

Rinoa walked into Zone's office, where he appeared hard at work. Angelo followed at her heels. Zone had building plans spread across his large desk.

"Good morning," she said brightly.

"Good morning to you, Mary Sunshine," he said sourly. "Get some coffee, if you want," he said, gesturing at a half of pot sitting in the coffee maker.

"No thanks, I've already had three cups, but you sound as if you could use some."

Zone pointed out the newspaper laying on a chair. "Well, in that case, go read the bad news," he said.

Rinoa picked up the folded newspaper from off the chair and opened it. She saw a huge headline that announced 'Hamilton Will Run.' The article underneath went on to say that Worth Hamilton had chosen to run for the 'at large' position on the city council against political newcomer, Rinoa Heartilly.

"Political newcomer!" Rinoa sputtered. "How dare they! Who was fighting for Timber all these years – me or Worth Hamilton?"

"He probably leaned on the reporter from the Times," Zone said. "Trust me, this guy knows where all the bodies are buried."

"How could he be running at all?" Rinoa asked. "I thought the cutoff date for registration had passed."

"He pulled some strings; in other words, he paid somebody off. And now, on top of everything else, he wants to debate you. I'm gonna turn him down."

"You will not!" Rinoa protested emphatically. "I refuse to look like I'm afraid of that slime."

Zone stopped his work and looked at her. "No offense Rinoa, but that's crazy. You're way ahead in the polls. You only stand to lose if you debate him, you can't gain anything by it."

"I refuse to back down to him," she said passionately. "I wouldn't be able to hold my head up in this town if I ducked him. Please set it up for tomorrow if you can. I'm going to the newspaper office to research. I'll call you later."

Rinoa walked out with Zone shaking his head in disbelief behind her.

New Scene

Once Sorceress Ultimecia had been defeated and the world restored to normal, Esthar remained in contact with the other countries. Radio interference disappeared and Timber reinstated the use of their television facilities. Both Worth Hamilton and Rinoa agreed to hold their debate from the TV studio, rather than use somewhere such as, the city hall auditorium and cause the Timber network to have to televise it as a remote. A small TV audience was selected; of course, it was heavily slanted toward handpicked Worth Hamilton supporters.

It was eight o'clock the next evening. This time was chosen because it was considered primetime viewing to pull in the largest television audience. The debate moderator was Torkelson McCarthy, the Timber TV network's leading news commentator. He was also heavily in debt from loans from Worth Hamilton. The handsome, graying middle-aged newsman understood without being told that it was his job to present Hamilton in the best possible light during the debate.

Worth Hamilton was seated to the left of the standing moderator and Rinoa to the right. Hamilton was tackily decked out in a black tuxedo, which caused Rinoa to gleefully think to herself that he resembled an extremely overweight penguin. The young woman had chosen to wear a tasteful, but attractive, tweed business suit with a white blouse. She had no difficulty with ignoring Zone's suggestion of wearing a rather transparent black mini-dress.

"I would like to welcome our television audience as well as our studio audience to a debate of local import to Timber," Torkelson McCarthy said, using his well-learned sonorous voice. "Both Worth Hamilton and political newcomer, Rinoa Heartilly, are at extreme loggerheads running for the 'at large' position on the new city council. Before fielding questions from prepared queries by our local news media, our studio audience and callers, each candidate will make an initial statement. One of our most esteemed citizens, Worth Hamilton, will take the podium first.

_That figures, _Rinoa thought.

The moderator retreated to a chair located several feet behind and sat down. Worth Hamilton stepped to the podium. He was carrying a thick file with him. Both he and Rinoa had been equipped with tiny clip-on microphones.

"Good evening, populace of Timber," Worth Hamilton said smugly.

_Excuse me while I gag, _the ebony haired woman thought.

He brandished the file at the audience for dramatic effect. "What I have here is documented proof from the great country of Esthar. It shows without a doubt that Ms. Heartilly is an escaped criminal from the Sorceress Memorial. She is sought because of her crimes against mankind as a sorceress. Their plan to contain her for the good of all was thwarted when her escape was aided and abetted by Squall Leonhart. Surely her supporters will say the Sorceress Rinoa is a benign presence, but who can predict her future actions? Certainly not the famous Dr. Odine whom I have also spoken with. He said that only a fool would allow a known sorceress to be free because their behavior could easily become criminally erratic, as has been proven many times in the past. I know for certain and I think most of you would agree this is not someone we want residing in Timber, much less serving on the city council. I thank you for your time," Worth Hamilton said.

He returned to his seat and sat down; he then smiled maliciously across the stage at Rinoa. A hushed silence had fallen over the audience. Rinoa sat stunned, her blood running cold, adrenaline racing through her body caused her to tremble uncontrollably. She had expected some nastiness from her unscrupulous opponent, but nothing this vicious. This purported report was nothing less than slander, full of innuendo, rumor and catering to people's worst fears and yet based on just enough truth that Rinoa would find it extremely difficult to negate it. The young woman realized the longer she just sat, the more guilty she would appear; but she was presently feeling so emotionally and physically overwhelmed she was unable to motivate her body enough to stand up.

_What am I going to say? _she lamented. _I don't have the slightest idea. _She could see Zone standing off stage frantically motioning for her to stand up, as though he was her trainer and she was a fighter, down for the count.

Suddenly Laguna Loire was striding down the aisle of the audience. He too was holding a thick file.

"May it please the assemblage, I have something to say that will shed light on this," he said, as he stepped up on the stage.

Torkelson McCarthy quickly regained his feet, no doubt to attempt to prevent the President of Esthar from addressing the audience. Before the man could take one step, Laguna had reached him and unclipped his microphone. Clipping it on his own collar, Laguna stepped up to the podium.

"With all due respect to the two candidates, I have something to say," the man from Esthar said.

Worth Hamilton glared angrily at him, while Rinoa pasted a weak smile upon her lips.

"As the current President of Esthar I have some insight into the validity of Mr. Hamilton's accusations," Laguna stated. "I have here a sworn disposition from the current director of the Sorceress Memorial. In it he says unequivocally that, while it is true that upon her arrival from outer space Ms. Heartilly was viewed as a threat to mankind, it is now believed that is no longer the case. She is certainly not wanted for any outstanding criminal charges in Esthar. I also have certified scientific analysis from the distinguished Dr. Odine that Ms. Heartilly is in complete control of herself and her sorceress abilities and is not seen by him as a danger now or at any future time. I also have records provided me by the current Galbadian authorities of Mr. Hamilton's criminal activities during the time of the Galbadian regime in Timber. A warrant for his arrest has been sworn as of this date by Timber judge, the honorable Robert Lassiter."

A collective gasp arose from the television studio audience as two of Timber's militia stepped smartly from off stage. Worth Hamilton leaped wild eyed from his seat but didn't take one step before he was handcuffed. He was quickly read his rights and escorted off stage. Laguna strided over to Rinoa and pulled her up from the chair. He held her right arm straight up, signifying the winner. One person clapped – then two people – then three people – then people began standing and cheering and applauding – and then suddenly the audience erupted into a crescendo of a standing ovation that rang for many minutes.

New Scene

It was an hour later and Laguna, Zone and Rinoa were sitting in Zone's living room. Rinoa tensely sat in an upholstered chair; appearing almost as if she were shell shocked. She had already expressed her gratitude so many times to Laguna it began to grate on the others' nerves. Laguna understood completely what the pretty young woman was going through. Her self confidence was laying in tatters. The middle-aged man recognized the condition so readily because it had often happened to him. He understood instinctively that he needed to speak with her privately before he returned to Esthar.

"How did this all happen?" Zone asked. "How did you know about it?"

Laguna laughed and said, "I may be a figurehead, but being President has its advantages; one of which is having an elaborate spy network. As soon as Worth Hamilton began seeking information in Esthar for his nefarious scheme I was alerted. Unbeknown to him, he was followed everywhere. I had no difficulty with going behind him and finding out what he was doing. The Director of the Sorceress Memorial was more than willing to change the report he had given to Hamilton for a substantial raise in salary."

"Yeah, but I can't see that working with Dr. Odine. However did you get him to submit that bogus scientific analysis?" Zone interrupted.

Laguna laughed again and said, "Oh, with him, I just picked him up and shook him for a while. It's the only way he'll listen to reason."

Zone laughed uproariously and Laguna noticed that at least Rinoa managed a weak smile.

"But what about Galbadia? How in the world did you get them to cooperate?" Zone asked.

"That was easy," Laguna answered. "I just made them an offer they couldn't refuse. I offered them a large interest free loan if they could find it in their hearts to rustle up some war time information on Hamilton."

Zone grinned at him. "You're a sly devil."

"When I need to be," Laguna said. "Now I need to ask a favor." Turning to Rinoa, he asked, "Could you please give me a ride to the train station?"

Before the still befuddled young woman could answer, Zone said, "I'll be glad to take you, Laguna. It's the least I could do."

Not turning his head away from Rinoa, Laguna said, in a voice that held a hard edge, "I'm asking Rinoa. You just relax, Zone."

Feeling somewhat hurt and totally confused, Zone, for once, held his tongue. Rinoa looked at Laguna intently and finally said, "I'll be glad to take you."

The twosome wished Zone good night and then walked outside.

"That's my car there," the ebony haired woman said, pointing out a ten year old Shumi Hybrid. "It's old, but it was all I could afford right now," she said shyly.

"Are you kidding?" Laguna said. "That car is a classic, it will last forever."

Once they were out on Timber boulevard with Rinoa behind the wheel, Laguna said harshly, "You're feeling real sorry for yourself, aren't you?"

Rinoa felt as though she had been physically slapped, tears formed instantly in her eyes. She couldn't believe the gentle man had just spoken so unkindly to her.

"What?" she finally managed to say.

"You know what I mean," Laguna said. "You've been having a real pity party. You think you're the first person to ever screw up – to freeze like that under fire? Well, you're not! You're just fortunate you weren't in battle like I was the first time it happened to me. It's time to grow up and forgive yourself. You're human, just like the rest of us. Learn and move on, for Hyne's sake."

_He's right, _Rinoa thought. _I've been acting like the drama queen that Squall is always accusing me of. I'm so glad he wasn't here to witness this._

"Thank you," Rinoa spoke. "If I wasn't driving, I'd give you such a hug it would crack your ribs."

"You're welcome," Laguna said. He sat back in his car seat satisfied.

New Scene

Squall reached Fisherman's Horizon in the middle of the night. He walked down through the darkened silent town and checked into the Inn. Squall was awakened early by the alarm he had set on his cell phone. Still bone tired, he forced himself up. The young man still displayed the propensity for sleeping in his attire, particularly when on a mission, so he immediately went downstairs and bought a cup of coffee. Still sipping it, he placed a call on his cell phone to Balamb. He had to wait a few minutes to make his connection because calling from more than a short distance was never predictable. Squall talked briefly to Soren Martin and then discontinued his call. Realizing he had a few hours of waiting, the young man performed his morning absolutions.

He turned on the radio that was provided by the hotel. A few seconds later, the song _Wild Horses _began to play. _That's a pretty cool song,_ Squall thought. _I bet Rinoa would like that._ He surprised even himself because the taciturn young man ordinarily didn't pay any attention to music. After the song ended, Squall switched the channel and listened to a few minutes of cable news. He heard nothing of import relating to either one of the Gardens and turned it off. Ironically if he had waited just a moment later, he would have heard the newscaster reporting the bizarre results of the Timber debate between Rinoa Heartilly and Worth Hamilton.

Now quickly becoming bored, Squall gathered his meager possessions and returned them to his travel bag. He checked out of the Inn and walked out into the bright F.H. sunlight. A few minutes later, he was sorry he hadn't waited longer in his room.

First the young man was accosted by the attractive, dark-haired young woman who was often seen walking up and down the main street. She must have a closet full of those black mini-dresses. Squall thought, because that was the only apparel he ever saw her wearing.

He had met her months earlier. Her name was Sofia and her middle-aged father had died, leaving her independently wealthy. She had informed him that she owned homes in F.H., Timber and Deling City. Sofia stepped directly in front of Squall, effectively stopping his progress.

"Hello," she said in a sultry voice. "Long time, no see."

"Hi," Squall answered.

He had in his mind to slip past her, but the young temptress prevented him by placing her hand on his chest.

"Hold on," Sofia said. "What's your hurry? Let's go get a drink."

"At nine o'clock in the morning?!" Squall exclaimed, aghast. "I don't think so," he said firmly.

"Then come to my house for a cup of coffee," she invited.

Squall managed, with a quick move, to slip by her and walk on.

"You can't escape destiny," Sofia called behind him.

"Whatever," Squall murmured.

It wasn't more than a block further down that Squall unhappily observed Mayor Dobe scurrying towards him. He was dressed in a garish appearing sports shirt that hung out over his knee high shorts. Squall always thought the man resembled a beach comber rather than the Mayor of F.H.

_Into the fire,_ Squall thought forlornly.

The young man attempted to walk past the mayor but was not fortunate as the middle-aged stopped in front of him.

"Hey! Flo told me you were hanging around, what's your business here?"

Squall sighed deeply and then said, "I told your wife I was just taking a train to Esthar and now I just arrived back from there. I'm preparing to leave here this morning."

"Is your Garden here?" Mayor Dobe asked brusquely.

Squall reached down deep into his dwindling pool of patience and said, "The Garden is in Balamb."

"I'm still waiting to hear about where our technicians are."

"I'll tell our headmaster the next time I talk to him," Squall said.

"That's what you told Flo. I'm taking this to the International Court at Esthar if I don't hear from him."

"Whatever, do what you feel is best," Squall stated.

"Move along," the mayor said rudely. "I have no time to waste with you, I'm on official business."

Mayor Dobe hurried on his way. _What a moron,_ Squall thought. _Why don't they vote him out of the office anyway?_

Squall stopped and made one purchase before walking down to the harbor area and discovered Soren Cramer waiting on one of the docks.

"Sorry I'm late," Squall said.

"Naw, I just got here," the older man said. "I laid in enough provisions for three to four days. Where we headed?"

"Shumi Village."

"Good enough, climb aboard," Soren Martin said.


	10. Chapter 10

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Ten

Selphie, Quistis and Sara were standing inside of Trabia Garden and talking.

"Things are really coming along, aren't they?" Selphie asked, glancing around the interior.

It was true, the F.H. technicians were making great progress. It almost appeared as if the Garden was springing up over night. Walls were going up and being painted. Floors were poured and then tile affixed. Ceilings were coming into existence and they soon would be working on the second floor.

The original drive that ran along the side of the Garden to the old garage was laid, except now it detoured around the cemetery. The Trabia departed would never be disturbed in their eternal sleep. Several classrooms had been constructed and were ready to be used.

"Yes, they are," Quistis agreed. "Selphie, what do you think about holding a concert here in Trabia like we did at F.H.?"

Selphie's face lit up like a two thousand watt light. "That's a terrific idea!" she squealed. "Why didn't I think of that? I'm going to get Zell, Irvine and maybe Rinoa to perform and also generate some interest among the Trabia students to play with us and then speak with the technicians about building a stage."

It warmed Quistis' heart to see her friend so excited about a project again. Sara leaned over and whispered something in Selphie's ear.

Selphie's pretty face suddenly flushed bright red and she emphatically said, "Absolutely not!"

"Aww, why not?" Sara whined. "It'll be fun and I'll do it tastefully."

"No, Sara," Selphie said again, beginning to appear aggravated.

"How about just half way?" Sara asked.

"Forget it, Sara."

"Okay," Sara said, smiling. "But if you change your mind, let me know. I'm going to go tell Kaede about the concert," Sara said, as she scampered off.

"Can you believe that girl?" Selphie asked, now appearing scandalized.

"Why?" Quistis asked. "What did she want to do?"

"An exotic dance!"

"An exotic dance?" Quistis repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"A strip tease," Selphie, now blushing again, answered.

"Oh my sweet Shiva!" Quistis exclaimed, and then she threw her head back and laughed heartily.

"Don't laugh, she was serious."

"Why don't you let her do it, she'd be the hit of the festival."

"Quistis!" Selphie screeched, outraged. "I can't believe you just said that."

"Relax, I'm just kidding, where's your sense of humor?"

Selphie smiled ruefully. "It left with Sara's suggestion."

"You know, I'm gonna talk with Cid about holding a special field exam," Quistis said thoughtfully. "I don't think it's fair that Kaede has had to wait so long – for that matter, Sara also. In fact, it might help improve Sara's behavior to get her out of this wilderness and down to civilization. Maybe we could even have a field exam up here."

"That's a cool idea!" Selphie praised.

"As soon as things get back on an even footing here, I'm going to discuss it with him," Quistis said.

"Of course you're gonna perform with us," Selphie said.

"I'd rather not," Quistis said. "I came out here to help and I think I'd better stick with working."

"Come on, Quistis," Selphie pleaded. "Raising the students' morale is helping out too. You're acting so staid."

_Staid! _Quistis thought, outraged.

"Well, what about it?"

"Okay, but we'll have to practice up here, I won't have the time to be going back and forth all the time."

"Alright!" Selphie exclaimed, performing a small hop. "So how's it going with Tony?"

Quistis stiffened slightly as she answered, "The headmaster and I have been working together fairly well."

"You know what I mean," the green-eyed SeeD insisted. "I'm not exactly a new kid on the block, you know. I realize you and Tony have been seeing each other."

Quistis flushed slightly, but admitted, "I guess there is a certain attraction between us, but I would prefer if you didn't mention it to Kaede and Sara."

"Oh, they already have serious suspicions, but I won't say a word. So is it true love?" Selphie asked, with an impish grin.

"Love!" Quistis said in surprise. _Love! That dreaded word, _she thought. The woman suddenly realized that since the time of her infatuation of Squall and the ensuing emotional anguish, she had thought of love cynically, if at all; something for others possibly, but also something for her to be very leery of.

"No," Quistis finally answered weakly. "It's way too early for that. But what about you and Irvine – how's that going?"

Selphie appeared uncomfortable when she answered, "Oh, you know us – we're just good friends."

Quistis politely nodded, but she realized how far from the truth that was.

"I'm gonna go talk to some of the students and let them know about the concert. Maybe I'll see you again before I leave," Selphie said.

"Okay, I'll be around."

The two young women parted and Quistis went in search of the headmaster. Later, when they spoke, she informed him of Selphie's decision to provide some entertainment for the students. Tony was delighted with this development.

"By the way, do you see any problem with me taking a day off tomorrow? I would like to visit Shumi Village."

"Nothing that I can think of, although it's too bad I can't take the day off with you."

"Yes, I suppose so," Quistis said pensively.

New scene

Zone was sitting behind his desk in his office in the Municipal Planning building, while Rinoa stood beside him pouring over The Timber Times that was spread out across his desk.

She glanced at him and said, "I've got that radio interview this morning and I'm speaking to the Teachers' Association this afternoon. Tomorrow I have the League of Women Voters Luncheon. And the 'Timber News at Six' shooting about my campaign."

"Rinoa," Zone said patiently. "Don't you think you're going a little overboard? There's no one running against you."

"There's always write-in votes and who knows what other chicanery some Worth Hamilton supporter might have planned."

"It's too late for anyone else to declare their candidacy," Zone insisted.

"Yeah, just like it was for ol' Worth himself," she said sarcastically.

"I rented the reception room at the Timber Hotel as our campaign headquarters on election day," Zone said.

"Thank you, Zone," Rinoa said sincerely. "You're always at least two steps ahead of me."

"That's my job," Zone responded, with a smile.

The dark-haired woman placed her hand on top of his and said, "No, it's more than that and you know it. I just want you to know how grateful I am for all you've done over the years."

Zone was clearly touched and mumbled a response, almost inaudible except by Angelo, who was currently laying in the corner of the room.

"My pleasure, princess," he murmured.

"I'm so sorry," Rinoa began to say.

"It's over and done with," Zone interrupted. "Isn't that what Laguna told you?"

Rinoa laughed and asked, "Were you hiding in the back seat?"

"No, but I knew that he would tell you the truth and wouldn't mince words either."

Rinoa glanced at her wrist watch and exclaimed, "Oh no, I'm gonna be late for my radio interview if I don't hurry!"

On her way through the office, Rinoa called back, "Wish me luck, I'll call you tonight."

And then she was suddenly gone.

"That girl," the man said ruefully, although he was smiling. "I'm surprised her name isn't Marlo."

New scene

It was late afternoon at Balamb Garden. Irvine and Zell were nursing Shumi caffe lattes in the coffee shop. They were waiting for the second dinner shift to be announced.

"Do you know about the concert Selphie wants to organize at Trabia Garden?" Irvine asked.

"Yeah," Zell said sourly.

"I take it you're not going to participate."

"Your assumption makes an ass out of you," Zell said. "Kasumi heard about it and she's very excited."

Irvine laughed and said, "Sounds like someone here is very henpecked."

"Don't even go there," Zell retorted. "Seems to me you're in no position to be hassling me on that subject. There seems to be a number of henpeck scars on your face too."

Irvine laughed and said, "Tushy."

"Huh? Tushy?" Zell said. He then laughed and said, "I think you mean touché."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Reasonably sure," Zell replied.

"I'm still going to have to ask Selphie about that."

"You do that," Zell said dryly.

"Are you going to the celebration in Timber on Monday?" Irvine asked.

"Oh yeah!" Zell answered enthusiastically. "You know, this whole thing struck me as weird. I never pictured Rinoa ever running for elected office, much less winning."

"It didn't surprise me in the least, I've always said she could do whatever she set out to do. After all, she convinced Squall he needed a girlfriend and I thought that was impossible," Irvine responded.

"Yeah, that's true," Zell admitted.

Selphie and Kasumi sashayed through the coffee shop, attracting a vast amount of male attention along their way. Selphie appeared as bright and beautiful as always and Kasumi was dressed in her civilian clothes, which were always too tight and too short. She rightfully assumed that she needed to present her assets provocatively or Zell would never get the message.

As the two young women approached their table, Irvine stood quickly and doffed his cowboy hat.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he greeted gallantly.

Zell helped Kasumi be seated and then regained his chair. Selphie also sat down and then hissed through clenched teeth, "Sit down, Irvine. You're making a spectacle of yourself again."

It was true, every person in the coffee shop was staring at them. Irvine quickly sat down, while Zell snickered.

Never one to be deterred or embarrassed, the lanky cowboy said, "And what have you two fine looking ladies been doing this afternoon?"

It was Selphie's turn to snicker as Kasumi answered, "We've been busy fulfilling our duties, what have you two been doing?"

Before Irvine could answer, Zell replied, "We've been kicking it here in the coffee shop waiting for dinner to be called.

"Zell!" Irvine complained. "That's not true, we've been discussing Selphie's plans for the concert."

"That reminds me," Selphie said. "I want to have a rehearsal just among ourselves this evening. Can everyone attend?"

"Oh, I don't know, Selphie," Zell said. "I have some prior plans."

Kasumi coughed loudly and glared at Zell.

"Which I'll be glad to change," Zell continued smoothly.

Kasumi smiled sweetly at him and said, "I'm really excited about this, Selphie. What are we going to perform?"

"I already know three numbers for certain – the Irish jig, _Eyes on You, _and _Wild Horses." _

"Oh yeah!" Kasumi agreed excitedly. "I've heard that song, I think it's great."

Zell moaned softly.

"What was that you said?" Irvine asked, a malicious grin on his handsome features.

"Nothing, my stomach grumbled. When are they gonna called second shift anyway?" Zell asked.

"Selphie, is it – tushy – or touché?" Irvine said.

"Wha?" Selphie said.

New scene

Soren Martin weighed anchor slightly off the coast of Winter Island at three o'clock in the morning. Considering the total remoteness of the area, both men felt it safe enough to catch a few hours of sleep before Squall set off on his trek to Shumi Village.

Naturally Soren remained behind to guard _Korey's Folly _as Squall lowered the rubber dingy into the frigid water and then carefully climbed in. Utilizing the two oars, he maneuvered it onto the shore. He was careful to pull the dingy up far enough onto the snow covered ground so it wouldn't be accidentally washed back out to sea when he was gone.

It was quite cold, in fact far below freezing with snow flurries cutting down visibility considerably. This was no matter to Squall. He pulled out his compass and headed due west where he knew Shumi Village lay. He had, at the least, an hour and a half journey ahead of him.

New scene

Quistis finished putting the final touches on her stylish outfit by clasping her belt shut. She then pulled her winter coat on and stepped outside her tent. Walking down to where the Trabia vehicles were parked, Quistis was aware of the anxiety and apprehension she was experiencing.

_I hope I know what I'm doing, _she thought worriedly. _Perhaps it'd be better for all concerned to leave things alone. _

Alexis, a young woman upper-classman, who was in charge of the motor pool, stepped up to Quistis. She had red hair twined in pigtails, was tall and quite thin. She handed the female SeeD the set of keys.

"It's Land Rover #1, ma'am, it's all gassed up and serviced."

"Thank you," Quistis said.

Just as the strawberry-blonde haired woman opened the vehicle door and prepared to step inside, she heard Tony call out from across the field.

"Wait, Quistis!"

_He's so sweet. He's come to say goodbye, _she thought. _Although I hope he isn't going to ask me if he can go with me. There's just no way that can happen._

Nearing the young woman, the headmaster said, "Don't go!"

"Why on earth not?" Quistis couldn't help but ask archly.

Tony finally gained his breath enough to say, "I've been called away to Trabia for an emergency Board of Directors' meeting. I have to leave for Trabia City immediately. You'll have to stay here and run things in my stead."

"Okay," Quistis said stoically, although her disappointment was acute.

"I'm so sorry, I know this was important to you," Tony said.

"Don't be silly," the young woman said firmly. "I can go to Shumi Village any day and, besides it's not your fault."

"Come to my tent," the young man said. "I need to show you what paperwork has to be finished today."

Once inside the tent, the young man and woman kissed deeply and then embraced for a few seconds.

"Again, I'm so sorry," he said.

"It's not your fault, quit apologizing. What do you think this meeting is about?" Quistis asked worriedly.

"Just some financial stuff, I think. They told me to bring the expenditures and the cost sheets," he answered.

Observing the worried expression on Quistis' face, he laughed and said, "Don't worry. They're not gonna fire me. They don't have anyone crazy enough to take my place – unless you want the job."

"No way!" Quistis said emphatically. "There's not enough tea in Shumi Village for me to take your job."

Tony and Quistis perused the paperwork for the next few minutes that needed to be finished that day.

"Okay," she said. "I think I've got it. Hadn't you better be on your way?"

"Yes, you're right," Tony agreed. "Thanks so much for filling in for me."

"No thanks to it, that's why I'm here."

They kissed briefly and then Quistis said, "Have a safe journey."

"I plan to," he said, with a smile. "I probably won't be back until tomorrow."

"I'll be waiting for your safe return."

"I know you will," Tony said and then he was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Eleven

An hour later, Quistis had almost completed all the necessary paperwork. A few minutes later, she heard Sara's voice at the tent flap.

"Headmaster, can I come in?"

"That's may I come in, and yes, please do," the female SeeD invited.

Quistis found the look of extreme surprise on Sara's face priceless, when she entered the tent and observed the older woman sitting behind the headmaster's desk. It wasn't often that she was able to shock Sara, it was usually the other way around.

"Where's Tony – I mean the headmaster?" Sara blurted out.

"He's been called away to a board of directors' meeting in Trabia. I'm the acting headmaster."

"Oh," Sara said blankly.

"Where's your salute, student?" Quistis barked.

Quistis wasn't acting out of meanness or attempting to flaunt her new authority over the female upper-classman; she honestly felt as though Sara needed to learn some new much needed discipline if she were going to transfer to Balamb Garden soon. To Quistis' way of thinking, the young woman was being allowed to run wild because of the present condition of Trabia Garden.

Quistis certainly wasn't blaming Tony. She realized he had no Garden training or experience – that he was just a stopgap to handle paperwork and exert some authority over the entire Garden.

Sara quickly snapped to attention, offering the proper salute, although Quistis noticed the female upper-classman appeared perplexed.

"At ease," the older woman said. "I'm surprised you know how to offer a salute."

"Oooh, that hurt," Sara said.

"Do you want something? I'm busy here with paperwork," Quistis responded.

"Yeah, I do. I wanna do a special act for the festival and Selphie won't let me. I want you to give me permission."

"Sara, Selphie told me what you wanted to do and it's out of the question," Quistis replied.

"Awww, why? Come on, it'll pick up the guys' spirits and maybe some of the women's too – who knows?"

"Sara, you'll get pneumonia for one thing, and it's in extremely bad taste for another."

"You're saying my body is in bad taste?" Sara said petulantly.

Suddenly the frustration of not being allowed to travel to Shumi Village when she finally felt emotionally prepared and Sara's silly carping welled up into intense aggravation within Quistis.

"Sara! Stop all this foolishness immediately!" The female SeeD snapped. "You're being ridiculous. And don't even think of doing it without permission – you'd be terminated from here in a heartbeat. Is that what you want?"

Sara's usual smile ran away from her pretty face.

"No, of course not," she answered softly. Then with an impish gleam in her eye, Sara said, "Why did you sugarcoat it? Why not tell me straight?"

Quistis couldn't help but laugh. She said, "Is there anything else that you want?"

"I usually come in and shoot the sh-, I mean pass the time with the headmaster. Since you're busy, I guess I'll be moseying along," Sara said, in a mock cowboy accent.

Quistis was instantly reminded of Irvine. _I wonder how he's doing? _she thought. _And Zell and Rinoa – and Squall on his secret mission. I miss them all so much already, but all that is behind me now. _

Snapping herself out of her musing, she said, "Okay, come back later. I've got some surprising news for you."

"Alright!" Sara exclaimed happily.

New scene

Two hours later, Squall was gratefully approaching Shumi Village. His physical exertion from trudging through the now near blizzard conditions was causing perspiration to immediately freeze upon his skin. He felt physically overheated and yet was steadily shivering from the extreme cold.

Still the young man stoically marched along, not even allowing himself a thought of self pity. It was simply his duty as a SeeD and his responsibility to matron who helped raise him.

Finally entering Shumi Village, Squall immediately felt literally caressed by the heat. It seemed to the young man that his body was gulping it into his pores. He gratefully sat down on the bench provided in the huge elevator and didn't even mind listening to the holograph of the Elder's assistant welcoming him.

Squall physically felt much better by the time the elevator reached the bottom floor. The young man exited and stepped down the stairs into the village. Amazingly enough, considering it was all built underground, Shumi Village stretched for miles and miles in all directions.

Various roads had been blasted through rock and dirt to create mountains and hills, which held large trees of every description, tall weeds and undergrowth in some areas plus cat tails and small shrubbery.

There were levels upon levels of houses on different parts of the mountains going up quite high. The houses mostly resembled each other – small dome buildings with porthole windows.

The hotel lay off the right side of the main road. Squall stepped in and rented a room. He took a much needed long, hot shower and then put on his freshly, laundered outfit. The young man left his carry bag in his room and exited the hotel. Squall entered the Elder's house after knocking on the door and being invited in.

The Elder looked at Squall in surprise and said, "Well, hello again."

"Please excuse my intrusion, but I am searching for someone."

New scene

Edea and a young man were seated in a house high in the mountains above the main road Squall had just traveled down.

"Squall's here in the village," Edea said.

"So?"

"So, I'm going to have to leave with him."

"Why?" the young man asked. "He couldn't find his behind with his own two hands."

Edea laughed throatily. "You always have underestimated him," she said.

"It's impossible to underestimate him," he said dryly. "This place is huge, he wouldn't find you in five years."

"He made it all the way up here looking for me," the older woman pointed out. "Besides, the Shumis don't prevaricate well."

"What?"

"They don't lie well," Edea said. "Squall would know they weren't telling the truth just from their demeanor. And, anyway it's unfair to place them in that position after how kind they've been."

"I appreciate you coming," the young man said. "In fact, I appreciate all that you've done for me."

"It's the least I could do," Edea said. "I'll come back as soon as I can. Now you stay here – you will, won't you?"

"Where else would I go?" he asked ruefully.

Edea stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodbye 'til later," she said softly.

New scene

Edea was unhappily astonished, as she walked down the main thoroughfare toward the Elder's domicile, to observe Ellone preparing to enter the building. Her heart sank as she realized what the young woman was probably doing there. When the older woman called out to her to hopefully forestall her from conversing with the Shumi villager, Ellone naturally stopped and turned to the street.

If she were surprised to see Edea present in the Village, her expression certainly didn't indicate it. Both women were apparently of a like mind and quickly stepped to each other until they met by the side of the road.

"Ellone, what a pleasant surprise to see you," Edea forced herself to say cheerfully. "Whatever brings you to such a remote place?"

"Edea," Ellone greeted firmly, sounding almost stern. "I could easily ask you the same, but I already know – just as I'm positive you already know my purpose.

Despite her rising anger at what the former sorceress considered the impudence of the far younger woman, she managed to maintain an agreeable smile on her lovely face.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Edea said.

"I'm here to attempt to talk some sense into a pair of people that I care about, one very deeply."

Before the dark-haired woman could draw a breath to respond, Ellone asked, "Where's Uncle Laguna?"

"I'm not certain, dear," Edea said in a saccharine tone. "But I believe he's in Esthar or will be by the time you return."

Before this, she wouldn't have believed such an appearance of total distaste could cross Ellone's usual placid expression. It was now painfully obvious to the older woman that Ellone, at the very least, had serious suspicions concerning Edea and Laguna's assignations. It was suddenly very important to Edea that Ellone and Squall remain separated for the time being. She certainly couldn't afford to trust the younger woman's discretion presently – particularly given Ellone's current mood.

"Perhaps you should toddle along then, dear," Edea said superciliously.

"Yes, I shall," Ellone answered.

And Ellone turned on her heel angrily and strode quickly away. The older woman breathed a huge sigh of relief as she watched Ellone disappear into the elevator, which would return her to solid ground. And then Edea quickly hurried toward the Elder's residence before anything else could go wrong.

New scene

"I'm not certain I can assist you, but who are you looking for?" the Elder asked solicitously, being ever polite.

His assistant stood several feet behind him and appeared to Squall to be nervously fidgeting. Strangely for him, he had remained quiet.

"I'm searching for Edea Kramer."

"Edea Kramer?" the older Shumi echoed, sounding puzzled.

"Yes – Edea Kramer," Squall answered, feeling slightly frustrated. "The wife of the headmaster of Balamb Garden?"

"Ah, yes, the former sorceress," the Elder now said.

It was then that Squall realized Kiros had steered him in the right direction. There was just no way that the Elder wouldn't have immediately recognized Edea's name.

"Is she here in Shumi Village?" the young man asked.

There was nothing further said until the silence hung palpable in the small room. Finally the Elder spoke, "I'm not certain where she is presently."

_Not this crap again, _Squall thought. He was becoming highly frustrated with being forced to play semantics; first with Kiros and now with the Elder. Squall suddenly recognized the sound of the door behind him opening and then the voice of Edea say, "Hello, Squall. Are we ready to leave?"

Even though he was completely startled, the young man kept his expression noncommittal and his tone flat when he answered Edea after turning to her.

"Hello, matron. Are you alright?"

The dark-haired woman laughed softly. "Of course I'm alright."

Squall slightly bowed to the Elder. "Please excuse me for my bother. We'll be on our way now."

"Wait," the Elder said. Turning to his assistant, he said, "Tell the Moomba outside to prepare to take our visitors on the sled."

"Yes, Elder," he said, before obeying and leaving the building.

"The Moomba will take you safely to your destination," the Elder said.

Stepping gracefully past Squall, Edea approached the Elder and said, "Thank you so much for all you've done."

"You're most graciously welcome."

New scene

Cid sat pensively behind his desk. For once, he had no work spread out before him, he was finished for the day. _Why haven't I heard anything from Squall? Now I wish I hadn't practically ordered him to not call until he had something certain to tell me. _

Of course Cid could contact Squall by cell phone, but it would be strictly against Garden policy to attempt such with someone who was on an undercover mission. It could also place the operative in a dangerous, if not life threatening situation, depending on where he was when the call was placed.

_I'm so scared. What would I do without her? And where have the White SeeDs been? I ordered them to keep a close eye on Edea. _

Cid's old fashioned desk phone nosily jangled, startling him out of his worrying reverie. Since it wasn't his more private cell phone, the middle-aged man had to assume the call could be from the general public and answered it accordingly.

"Balamb Garden, Headmaster Kramer speaking. How may I help you?"

It was long past dinner hour and Cid's administrative assistant was no longer available to screen his calls, even though he had volunteered to stay late.

"Cid? This is Xu, I tried your cell phone, but all I could do was leave a message."

"Oh, darn it, I had it turned off," Cid said. He could almost feel Xu shake her head ruefully at him. Here he was, desperately waiting for a call from Squall and he didn't even have his cell phone turned on.

"You didn't eat again, did you?" Xu asked.

"Well, as a matter of fact-"

"I know you didn't," the female commander interrupted. "You're going to get sick if you don't eat. Now you haven't stepped outside of the Garden for weeks. Meet me in the parking garage and we'll go down to Balamb for dinner."

"Well, I don't know."

"Now, Cid! Chop-chop, I'll meet you in ten minutes. And turn your cell phone back on so Squall can reach you."

"Okay," Cid spoke with a resigned sigh. "And Xu?"

"What, sir?"

"Thanks."

New scene

In the early evening, after eating dinner with Kaede and Sara, Quistis had returned to the Headmaster's tent. She was using the pretext of perusing the textbooks for appropriateness for use once classes resumed, but actually was nervously waiting for Tony to return safely. She also thought if he were to spend over night away in Trabia, it would be better that she remained there so an authority figure would be easy to find in case of emergency.

_Some of these textbooks are so outdated, _Quistis thought, disappointedly. _Look at this __Care Of And Appropriate Interaction With Guardian Forces __book. It's so old it's practically useless. So much more is known now. And the history books are ten years old! _

Suddenly Selphie came bounding into the tent unannounced causing Quistis to drop the book she had been looking through onto the tent floor.

"Selphie! Don't ever do that again. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Well, gee Mom – sorry."

_Mom! _Quistis thought, more than slightly miffed. _Just because I expect some common courtesy? _She then shook her head ruefully at her own thoughts. _When did I become like this? Or have I always been this way? _

Selphie looked on quizzically. "I'm sorry," she said. "You know me – I was just excited."

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. I'm just on edge with Tony gone." Quistis offered a smile as a peace offering.

Glancing around the tent as though she expected to discover the headmaster lurking in a corner, Selphie said, "Where is he?"

"He was called away to a board of directors' meeting in Trabia this morning, So, what's up?"

"We came up to rehearse," the green-eyed SeeD explained.

Quistis inwardly groaned, but then she realized it would do her some good to get out of that damn tent. She had sequestered herself there since Tony had left, except for a short period of time at lunch and dinner.

Quistis pulled on her winter coat, which had been hanging over the back of her chair and said, "So where are we doing this musical experiment?"

"In the large hold in the Ragnarok, Selphie said, "It's perfect, it's more than big enough and we have power – and most importantly – heat!"

"Yes, heat is good," Quistis agreed and the two young women were laughing as they left the tent.


	12. Chapter 12

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Twelve

"So Timber's League of Women Voters luncheon went okay?" Zone said into his cell phone.

Rinoa's long day had finally reached an end. She had arrived home in the early evening and had taken a long, hot luxurious bubble bath. The young woman then put on her pajamas and was presently laying on top of her still made bed.

"Yeah," she answered. "I thought it went well, but I was disappointed. I thought you were gonna show up to lend moral support."

"Very funny," Zone retorted. "Actually, were there any men there?"

"Yep."

"There were?" he asked, surprised.

Rinoa said dryly, "Uh huh, there were some male servers."

The man laughed and said, "You're quite the card this evening. I hope this is an indication of how relaxed you're feeling. You need to get a good night's sleep, you've got a long day tomorrow."

"It's all an act, Zone. Actually I'm as nervous as a moomba on a hot tin roof. I just wish I could have talked to Squall about all this before the election."

"Well, if he gives you any trouble, just tell me – I'll straighten him out."

"Thanks a bunch, Zone. That really makes me feel oh so much better. By the way," Rinoa said in a manner she hoped would sound off hand. "Robin Sheridan has asked to escort me tomorrow evening and I said yes. And don't say one word."

There was complete silence on the other end of the line.

"Well?" Rinoa finally said.

"You just told me not to talk."

"Good, I'm glad we've reached an understanding on this."

"Well, try to get some sleep," Zone said kindly.

"I will. I've got some work to finish and then I'm going to curl up in bed with a silly movie on TV."

"I'll be by early. The polls open at seven am and you shouldn't wait too late to show yourself around town."

"Okay, good night, Zone."

"Good night, princess."

New scene

On their way to the Ragnarok, Selphie and Quistis were joined by Sara. She had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for them. The young blonde stepped out and asked Selphie if she could watch the rehearsal. Actually the green-eyed SeeD felt uneasy about Sara attending, but she couldn't think of one good reason to deny her old friend. Selphie did ask Sara to please be on her best behavior, because she was going to meet some people who she might be working with later. And Selphie wanted them to be left with a good impression of her friend.

It became painfully obvious as soon as they entered the large air ship that Irvine had already formed a good impression of the young woman as soon as he observed her. He quickly had Sara with her back pressed against one of the walls while he leaned over her with one arm straight out supporting himself in the classic highschool hallway posture.

"And you are?" he asked.

"Irvine, leave her alone!" Selphie called from across the hold.

Sara giggled in response. She certainly had heard enough about Irvine prior to this to realize he lived up to his advanced billing.

"Hey Selphie! Your boyfriend is so handsome," Sara exclaimed.

Selphie sputtered, but remained silent. Quistis realized her close friend was caught between a rock and a hard place. She could hardly deny that Irvine was her boyfriend without risking hurting his feelings and the sanguine comment about his looks left her with no positive response at all.

Quistis attempted to help the situation by saying, "Everybody, this is Sara. Come over and meet everyone, Sara," she prompted the young woman.

Sara took the obvious hint and gracefully ducked under the cowboy's arm and then walked over to where the others were standing.

After the introductions were completed, Selphie suggested, "Let's start with _Wild Horses. _We'll probably need the most practice on that, since we've never performed it. If you want, I could play the CD first so everyone can familiarize themselves with the music."

"I think that's a good idea," Quistis said. She was impressed that, besides the basic instruments they had used in their first performance, Selphie had also acquired a drum machine and an electronic keyboard for them to use.

The green-eyed young woman slipped the CD in question into the player. The slow ballad sung by the raw blues sounding vocalist began.

_Childhood living is easy to do  
The things you wanted I bought them for you.  
Graceless lady you know who I am.  
You know I can't let you slide through my hands._

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away.  
Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away._

Everyone sat silent, in fact almost breathlessly enthralled by the rest of the gorgeous music. As the last note sounded, Sara said, "That song is so beautiful."

"Yeah, it gave me goose shivers," Kasumi said.

Striking while the iron was hot, Selphie quickly handed out sheet music to everyone, sans Sara.

"Everyone, look these over and then we'll decide who's going to play what," she directed.

New scene

Quistis sat behind the headmaster's desk, nodding over a Dynamics of an Asteroid textbook, which was written by a Professor James Moriarty. It was understandable that she had fallen asleep because it was past two in the morning and she had found the writing to be particularly dull.

Consequently the young woman wasn't aware when Tony slipped inside the tent. He had been forewarned. Upon approaching his habitat, he suspected that Quistis was still up waiting for him when he observed the light still burning within. The young man was delightedly surprised and very touched.

He unbundled his long, gray overcoat and laid it quietly over his bed. The headmaster crept up behind Quistis and, then gently pulling her long hair aside, he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the back of her neck.

She shrieked and threw the book straight up out of her hands, narrowly missing hitting Tony. Turning her head quickly and finally recognizing that it was him, Quistis said excitedly, "Oh my sweet Hyne, you scared me half to death!"

Tony laughed loudly and then leaned down and kissed the young woman fully on the lips. Quistis snaked her hands up around the back of his neck to pull him down closer. After a few more kisses, she stood up. They melted together in an embrace. Tony's kisses felt like ice, like fire on Quistis' lips. No one had ever caused her to feel so good, so special. The young woman just wanted to shout it out to the world and instead she couldn't tell a soul. It was so damn unfair! Quistis returned his kisses in wild abandon.

Finally coming up for air, Tony said, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself – finding you asleep slumped over that book."

Quistis laughed softly and said, "Apology accepted."

"By the way," the headmaster said with a smile dancing across his handsome features. "What book were you attempting to read and was falling asleep a critique?"

"The young woman smiled and said, "Most definitely."

Picking the book in question up off the floor where it had landed and handing it to Tony, Quistis said, "I certainly hope I'm not assigned to teach this. It's dreadfully dull."

"Dynamics of an asteroid," the young man intoned. "Sounds awful."

"So don't keep me in suspense. Tell me what happened at the meeting," she demanded.

"Sit down and I will," Tony said, indicating with his hand the chair that sat behind the desk.

After Quistis had seated herself, Tony sat on the edge of his desk, facing her.

"Just like I figured, they wanted a detailed accounting of all the finances. You put quite a feather in my hat, with all your help," the headmaster said seriously. "They were very impressed with all of the progress that had been made with rebuilding the Garden, which couldn't have happened without you. And don't worry," he said, smiling. "I made sure you got a lot of the credit."

Quistis flushed and protested, "Oh, you didn't have to do that. I've only played a small part in all of this."

"Don't be so modest. They were particularly pleased to learn about your experience as an instructor and that you've agreed to be one again. Anyway, they were all quite interested in learning about you and why Balamb Garden was so foolish to let you get away."

_Oh Hyne, _the young woman thought. _That's all Cid needs to hear. It almost sounds as if they called this meeting just to grill Tony about me. I wonder what's really going on? _

Quistis didn't respond further allowing the headmaster to continue.

"They were very happy that we'll be able to begin classes soon. The board is going to start advertising for positions for instructors starting tomorrow, so I thought we could go to Trabia in a couple of days to hold some interviews. I really want your feedback on the potential employees, because I wouldn't have a clue on what to ask them."

"Sure, I'd be glad to.

"I thought we could make a day of it – maybe take in some sights. I'd like you to meet my father. I'm worried about him."

"Why? What's wrong?" Quistis asked.

"I'm not sure, he just looked so tired today. He's always been so robust. I asked him how he was feeling, and he said fine, but I know he was just saying that so I wouldn't worry."

_Meet his father! _Quistis thought, alarmed. _We're really rushing things here, aren't we? _

"I look forward to meeting him," the young woman said, stiffly.

Fortunately for Quistis, the young man didn't notice her reticence, clearly having other things on his mind currently.

Suddenly appearing slightly rueful, Tony said, "It might take us a couple of days. Is there someone you could ask to come up here to oversee things while we are away?"

_Selphie? _Quistis immediately thought. _No, she's too close to Kaede and Sara. She wouldn't be objective enough. I know! I'm certain Xu would welcome the chance to get out of Balamb Garden for a little while. _

"No problem," the young woman answered. "I know just the person."

"Great!" Tony enthused.

He leaned over and turned off the desk lamp, extinguishing the only light in the tent.

"Hey!" Quistis protested.

"I don't know about you, but I'm really tired and want to go to bed," the young man explained.

The strawberry-blonde haired woman then heard the unmistakable sounds of clothes hitting the tent flooring and Tony climbing into bed.

"Are you staying here or going back to your tent?"

"What do you think?" Quistis said seriously.

She quickly disrobed and then climbed in after him.

New scene

Zone waited patiently outside of Rinoa's early morning front door. He had already knocked for entry and he could hear the young woman moving noisily through the living room. The young man, as usual, was punctual and it was seven am on the dot. The door was finally opened and Zone stepped inside the house.

Rinoa's normally pristine appearing hair looked a frazzled fright and she was attired in a fluffy, blue robe.

"I see you're ready to go as promised," Zone said.

Rinoa ignored the jibe completely and said, "Go do something helpful and make us some coffee."

She disappeared into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, Rinoa emerged and then crossed to the kitchen, where her cohort was seated at the table, drinking coffee. He saw immediately that the young woman had added makeup and her long hair appeared perfect, and she now resembled the Rinoa he knew so well.

"Thanks for making coffee," she said, pouring some coffee from the pot into a large mug. After adding three heaping spoonfuls of sugar, Rinoa picked the mug up to her lips and took several small sips.

"Hmmm, that's good," the dark-haired woman said, smiling at Zone.

"Rinoa," Zone said. "Why don't you pour a little more coffee into your sugar? Don't you know sugar is bad for you?"

"Thank you, mother zones. I'll go get ready," she said, disappearing into her bedroom.

A moment later, Rinoa reappeared, holding up two outfits on hangers – one in each hand.

The sorceress asked, "Which one do you like best?"

Zone panicked – what did he know about women's fashions? He didn't even have a lady friend currently and pictures of women in his primary reading material – The Girl Next Door – didn't usually show them wearing clothes.

"Uh, uh," Zone stammered. "They both look good."

_Oh, great, _Rinoa thought. "Look who I'm asking," she said. "A man who's wearing a red plaid lumberman's shirt and industrial strength green trousers. You look like a solstice tree."

"Hey! That's not fair!" Zone protested. "I'm planning on wearing a suit tonight."

"Whatever."

It was all academic a few minutes later when Rinoa emerged from the bedroom wearing a dark A-line skirt, and a charmeuse trim cami beneath a three button, black trench jacket. The outfit was figuratively topped off with three inch, black heels.

"Wow, you look great," he complimented her. "But -."

"I've already got something else picked out for tonight," Rinoa interrupted.

Thinking of the evening's activities caused the young woman to realize she hadn't heard from any of her friends recently. _I wonder what's going on, _she thought. _I feel so isolated here. _Rinoa had hoped that one of her friends would call to let her know that Squall was okay, or, at least, to say if they were coming to the reception.

"You wanna go get breakfast first?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Zone said so enthusiastically he reminded Rinoa of Zell.

They ate at the Timber franchise of the Shumi International House of Pancakes – (Si-Hop). Since they were famous for serving breakfast at any time, Zone ordered Centran Toast during the First Sorceress War. Rinoa shook her head ruefully at Zone still telling that same old, corny joke. The young man and woman decided to go vote afterwards.

Timber's population had remained low due to so many people fleeing the iron hand of Galbadian rule. The highways from Dollet and East Academy were crowded with returning Timber refugees. Due to the depleted number of citizens currently, only one voting precinct was necessary. This was located in the basement of City Hall. Upon approaching City Hall, the female candidate was surprised to see people on the sidewalk holding up cardboard placards that were stapled to flat wooden handles. The signs read "Heartilly for City Council."

"Oh, isn't that nice of them to do that," the young woman said.

Zone understood Rinoa was still so politically naïve she didn't realize he had paid them.

Walking up to the workers, Rinoa gushed, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Seeing the bemused expressions on the people he had hired, Zone decided to hurry Rinoa along before she learned she was embarrassing herself.

"Come on, let's go vote."

Once they entered the large room that held the voting machines, Zone and Rinoa realized it would be quite a long wait, judging by the length of the line. After all this was Timber's first election in many years.

"Looks like a good voter turnout," the dark-haired woman whispered to Zone.

"Yeah," he agreed. "That's great."

Forty-five minutes later, Zone and Rinoa had finally completed the voting process and were conversing on the sidewalk outside. The young sorceress was frightened, but also furious to have discovered that her detested opponent's name had remained on the ballot.

"Why's Worth Hamilton on the ballot?" she demanded.

"Rinoa," Zone said patiently. "Just because he was arrested doesn't mean he can't continue to run for office. As a matter of fact, he's out on bail right now – and knowing his political connections, I wouldn't be surprised if his case ever came to court.

Rinoa suddenly felt a sense of impending doom wash over her, which she chose to ignore. She didn't have the slightest idea if it were a premonition of physical danger, something to do with Worth Hamilton's situation or something happening with Squall but she decided, then and there, that nothing was going to ruin this evening for her. It was the successful culmination of four years of her fighting for Timber's freedom.

It suddenly occurred to Rinoa that she hadn't heard one word from her father. Even though she hadn't called General Caraway to inform him of her decision to become involved in Timber politics, she knew _that man _would have heard about it by now.

_It figures, _Rinoa thought. _Same old, same old. _

"Hey, how come you didn't tell me Robin Sheridan was running for one of the seats?" the young woman said.

"I thought you knew," Zone explained. "But I guess things have been moving so quickly for you that you haven't had time to worry about who else was running. I imagine you two will be working closely together," Zone said, with a smile.

"Zone," Rinoa responded, with warning in her voice.

"I was talking about the fact that you two have a lot in common politically."

"Oh, sure," Rinoa said, rolling her eyes at him.

Zone leaned toward Rinoa conspiratorially. "Who did you vote for?"

"Zone, there are some things you don't ask a lady and that's one of them," Rinoa intoned pedantically. And then she giggled at him.

"Aw, come on, Rinoa. I'm not gonna quote you," Zone wheedled.

"We should get some cheese to go with that whine, but okay, I'll tell you. I voted for Worth." And then the young sorceress began to walk away from him.

"Be serious," Zone implored.

"Come on, I want to go to the reception hall."

_Wild Horses _  
M. Jagger/K.Richards


	13. Chapter 13

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Thirteen

Since it wasn't too far a distance to the reception hall, Rinoa and Zone decided to walk. Along the way, people on the street greeted her and wished her good luck. She smiled in acknowledgement to them, but continued walking. The young man and woman entered the reception hall to spontaneous applause from supporters who were already present. She held her hand up in greeting and also to encourage the ovation to die down.

Rinoa was delighted to espy that Mitchell Paige, proprietor of the Flower Restaurant in Winhill, was present. He was a reasonably attractive, red-headed man, who was in his mid-thirties.

"Come on," Rinoa encouraged Zone. "I want to talk to Mitchell."

"Congratulations, Ms. Heartilly," he said when he was approached by Rinoa and Zone.

"Please call me Rinoa and you're a bit premature. I haven't won yet."

Mitchell said, "I was just watching the Timber News Cable Channel and they conducted some exit surveys with voters leaving the polls and they're projecting you're going to win with ninety percent of the vote."

"That's great!" Zone exclaimed.

"Mitchell, I want you to run our office in Winhill. I don't think it would take more of your time than a couple of hours a day," Rinoa said.

He smiled broadly and said, "I would be honored to help out any way that I can."

"Great!" Rinoa said. "Zone, could you work out the details with Mitchell?"

"Surely," he replied and the two men moved off to find a spare corner where they could speak in privacy.

Even though Rinoa kept herself busy by circulating through the hall speaking with everyone present, the afternoon still seemed to move at a snail's pace for her. Suddenly around five o'clock, Selphie, Irvine, Kasumi and Zell came noisily lurching into the reception hall. Actually lurching might be an unfair description, except that's the way they appeared in comparison to the much more sedate behavior of those already present. Rinoa had never felt so happy to see her friends than she did at that moment and she quickly hurried to their side.

"I'm so glad you came," she gushed to them.

"Are you kidding?" Irvine said. "We wouldn't have missed this for anything."

Zell observed the extra long buffet table full of food and exclaimed, "Oh, man! You've got miniature hot dogs. That's for me."

The excitable martial artist exuberantly ran over to the table with Kasumi trailing behind him saying, "Zell, now calm down. The food's not going anywhere."

Even though people throughout the hall were staring judgmentally at Zell, Rinoa was so happy to see her friends she felt no embarrassment at all.

"Uh, Rinoa," Selphie said. "Not that your outfit isn't attractive, but you're not wearing that this evening, are you?"

The sorceress laughed and said, "I was planning on going home to change. Do you want to come with me?"

Selphie quickly agreed and after Rinoa told Zone where she was going, the two young women left the reception hall chatting excitedly.

"Oooh, a stretch limo," the brunette gushed. "But why pink?"

"Don't ask me, ask Zone. Even if it's pink, I figured it looked better than my old Shumi hybrid."

After the chauffeur had helped the two young women sequester themselves in the back, he seated himself behind the wheel and eventually pulled into traffic.

"Would you like some champagne?" Rinoa offered.

"Sure!"

After the dark-haired young woman poured some champagne into the crystal glass, Selphie sipped it.

"Hmmm, good," she said. "But Rinoa, aren't you supposed to use a corkscrew to open it? There was no pop."

"The driver opened it earlier."

"Oh – aren't you gonna have any? It's really good."

"No," Rinoa said. "I'll need to make my acceptance speech later so I'll need a clear head."

A few minutes later, the two young women entered Rinoa's house.

"This looks great, Rinoa," Selphie praised, looking around.

"Thanks, but it's all just a rental. Selphie, could you do me a big favor and walk Angelo. She's been locked up all day. I'll take her with me when we go back to the reception."

"Sure, I'll be glad to."

After her friend had left with Angelo, Rinoa retreated to her bedroom. A couple of days previously, Rinoa had decided to wear her ivory cocktail gown on that evening – the apparel she felt that began it all. Besides, she considered it good luck. After all, she had met the love of her life while wearing it. She had been hoping to wear it for Squall on this evening while he wore his official SeeD finery, but Rinoa had finally accepted that wasn't going to happen.

New scene

"In conclusion, I would like to thank all of you for attending this evening to help celebrate my victory," Rinoa said.

There were now over three hundred people in the reception hall keenly listening to Rinoa's acceptance speech. Robin Sheridan stood beside her friends in the front row.

Rinoa continued, "Tomorrow I will roll up my sleeves and start to work, as for tonight – let's party!"

The new council woman stepped down from the microphone to thunderous applause. Angelo ran back and forth barking. Robin Sheridan stepped up and grasped Rinoa by the hand.

"You are so charismatic. The Mayor had better watch out or you'll be challenging him for his job soon," he said.

"Thank you, but please stop. You're embarrassing me," the young woman protested.

The crowd stepped back toward the walls to make room for dancing, as Zone signaled the Timber Symphony Orchestra to begin to play. The initial notes of _Timber is my Land _sounded and Robin Sheridan asked, "May I have this dance?"

"Yes, certainly," Rinoa responded graciously.

_Robin Sheridan looks so dreamy in his tux, _Selphie thought, watching the couple gracefully glide across the floor.

Rinoa realized her dance partner was taller than Squall by several inches, but she still managed to fit nicely in his arms due to her high heels. The young woman suddenly realized that Robin was quite good looking. She had been so preoccupied with her campaign that this had not occurred to her during their previous encounters. It was certainly different now that she was resting in his strong arms and being waltzed around the room.

_I wish I could introduce Robin to Quistis. He'd be perfect for her – tall and blond, _she thought.

Even Irvine had to admit they were a handsome looking couple. _Squall had better watch out and quit taking Rinoa for granted, _he realized.

It was at that exact second that Squall entered the clinic at Balamb Garden searching for Rinoa. Instead his attention was immediately drawn to the large screen TV that sat in the waiting area. It was tuned to the Timber access cable channel and was currently showing Robin and Rinoa's dance.

_Who the heck is that with Rinoa and what the hell is going on? _he thought wildly.

New scene

It so happened that Edea had her small black suitcase at the hotel also. So while the older woman secured her luggage, Squall retrieved his own carry bag. Once they had entered the elevator and sat down on the benches, the doors closed and the transport began its long journey topside.

Once they were back outside, Squall was pleasantly surprised with how efficient the Shumi electric sled appeared. It resembled a rather small two seater red car, sans roof, with long runners instead of wheels. There were four large batteries at the back of the sled and it had a DC-DC converter to keep an auxiliary battery charged. A medium sized sleigh was connected to it via a tow hitch.

The moomba assisted Edea into the sleigh while Squall climbed in on his own power. After placing their bags beside them, the moomba wrapped a warm fur coverlet over Squall and Edea.

"Laguna! Laguna!" the moomba said.

"Laguna?" Edea echoed warily. "What's he talking about?"

The woman mentally breathed a sigh of relief when Squall said, "Oh, he thinks that I'm Laguna. The moombas are always doing that, I have no idea why."

The young warrior didn't realize that moombas recognized humans through the smell of their blood. Consequently the moombas who were working at the Galbadian desert prison when Squall was a prisoner were the first creatures outside of Ellone who knew of his connection to Laguna.

The blizzard conditions had only lessened minimally and visibility had remained poor. The moomba climbed in behind the controls and started the electric sled. Squall had already explained to their driver the correct direction via his compass and the moomba set off on the proper route.

"Are you comfortable, Matron?" the young man asked.

"Yes, Squall, thank you. But how about you? You always look so serious I can never tell what you're feeling."

_How do you think I feel? I'm frigging exhausted. I've been getting by on little food and even less sleep, looking everywhere for you. _

Squall suddenly noticed that Edea was staring so astutely at him that he grew frightened she could read his thoughts. Who knows what powers former sorceress' were left with?

"I'm fine," he finally mumbled.

_Just like when he was a child – he hasn't changed a bit, _Edea thought resignedly.

"How's Rinoa?" the older woman asked.

Squall looked at her dumbly. _How would I know? _he thought.

"Fine, I guess," he said. "At least she was when I left."

_Why am I not surprised? _the headmaster's wife thought cynically.

"Haven't you called her since then?" Edea asked.

She attempted to not sound judgmental, but was not fully successful. Squall just silently shook his head, refusing to verbally continue this thread of conversation. He realized belatedly that Edea had been residing at the hotel all along. He wouldn't have had to bother the Elder and engage him in that painful charade of conversation if he would have just waited.

_The headmaster never hesitates to place me in potentially sensitive and embarrassing situations. I have to chase his wife halfway around the world and now what am I supposed to say to her? How are you and where the hell have you been? No, I don't think that would go over too well. Cid probably could have found her with a few well placed phone calls. _

Squall was struck once again that Cid didn't really want to know where Edea had been or what she had been doing. _It's none of my business, that's for sure. I bet Cid doesn't even call me in for a report or require a written one. He'll swear me to secrecy and sweep the entire thing under the carpet. _Squall grew so comfortable under the fur coverlet and, with already suffering from sleep deprivation, he soon fell asleep.

_Where am I? It was a completely different Garden. The colors were all wrong – full of red, blue and green and the angles of the walls and ceilings appeared cockeyed and crooked. Is this the way they rebuilt Trabia Garden? Or is this the new Garden in Galbadia? Squall was searching for Rinoa and couldn't find her anywhere. In fact the Garden was full of SeeDs and students who he had never seen before. What's going on? Just when he felt on the verge of completely panicking he spotted Zell. Running up to him, he called out demanding an explanation. Zell looked right through him, as though he wasn't there and went on his way. Squall next saw Selphie. He was relieved when she answered him. Rinoa? I haven't seen Rinoa for quite awhile. I think she's in Timber. Timber? he echoed. Why would she be in Timber? Squall, Selphie said. What? the young man answered. Squall? she said again. What? he repeated. Squall, wake up! Selphie said. Someone was gently touching his hand. _

Squall opened his eyes and saw Edea looking down at him.

"You poor dear," she said. "You must be exhausted, but we're here at the boat."

Squall glanced wildly around and saw the older woman had spoken the truth. The electric sled was currently not in operation and was resting next to the rubber dinghy. He saw Soren Martin standing on the front deck of _Korey's Folly _further out in the water.

"Sorry, Matron," Squall said softly.

"Don't be silly. Sorry for being human?"

Squall finally regained his footing onto the snow covered ground and then retrieved the bags, while the moomba danced around him, saying, "Laguna! Laguna!"

He placed their possessions in the dingy, helped Edea sit in it and then turned to the moomba. Squall thanked him for his help, even though he didn't have the slightest idea if the noble creature understood him at all. The young man pushed the rubber dinghy toward the frigid water and at the last moment climbed in as it left the shore.

Upon successfully boarding _Korey's Folly, _Squall introduced Edea to Soren Martin. The older man bowed and mumbled what was to him some social inanities. Edea smiled and returned the bow.

_Squall has found himself a kindred spirit, _she thought greatly amused.

The young man helped Edea become settled on the lower level and brought her some warm blankets that she could wrap around herself. He then brought her a hot cup of coffee.

"I'm fine, thank you," she said when Squall questioned if she were comfortable.

"Been waiting long?" the young man asked. It was his way of questioning if he had kept the mercenary too long.

"No, it was fine," Soren answered.

The older man pulled up the anchor and then set off on a southwest course, later to head due south to reach Balamb. Unlike the weather conditions on land around Shumi Village, the sea was relatively calm and Martin mostly used his engine to facilitate their rapid progress.

It was in the early evening and dusk had set in, when they finally reached their destination. Squall had removed their luggage and assisted Edea in leaving the ship.

"I would normally offer you a ride to the Garden," Soren Martin explained. "But I received a rush job from Timber that I would like to get to as soon as possible."

"No problem," Squall said. "We'll just take a taxi."

"Nice to have met you," Edea said.

"Uh, of course, me too," Soren muttered.

Under the power of his inboard, the seaman backed his vessel away from the dock and set off in direction of the Horizon bridge near Timber.

Edea smiled at Squall and said, "You must have enjoyed your time with Mr. Martin."

"What do you mean, Matron?"

"Just that you two appear similar in your outlooks."

Squall slightly shook his head in confusion and pulled out his cell phone.

He said, "I'll call us a taxi."

New scene

Squall paid off the taxi in front of the Garden. After they entered, Edea stopped a SeeD and asked her to please take her luggage to her and Cid's apartment.

Turning to Squall, the former sorceress said, "I'll go see Cid now. If he needs to see you about anything, I'm sure he'll call for you. Thank you for your graciousness."

_This, _Squall understood. He said, "You're welcome, Matron."

Edea strode off into the atrium.

_Free at last! _Squall thought joyously. The young man actually wanted to jump in the air and click his heels, but instead he hurried off to find Rinoa. A few minutes later after failing to find Rinoa or any of his other friends, for that matter, Squall decided to go look in the clinic. Maybe she wasn't feeling well.

Rushing into the health center, his attention was immediately drawn to the large screen television in the waiting area. The TV was fixed on the Timber access cable channel which was currently broadcasting Robin and Rinoa's dancing at her victory celebration.

_Who the heck is that with Rinoa and what the hell is going on? _he thought wildly.


	14. Chapter 14

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Fourteen

The run down tavern, _The Hellhole, _was aptly named. It was located in the poorest section in Timber and attracted only customers who were beyond the pale. It also was a great place to rendezvous for anyone involved in nefarious schemes because everyone present strictly minded their own business. No one ever saw or heard anything; at least as far as the Timber militia was concerned.

To add to the milieu of secrecy, the lighting was always kept extremely dim. The entire atmosphere was odious. Closing _The Hellhole _was the first thing on Rinoa's political agenda. What she didn't understand was there needed to be a place that kept the riff raff separate from the honest citizenry. And also plenty of secret political deals were consummated on the premises. Rinoa would never get a majority vote to close the tavern.

Worth Hamilton and Soren Martin sat at a table in the back of _The Hellhole. _

"So what's the deal?" Soren said.

The job pays fifty thousand Gil."

"Who do you want me to kill?" the mercenary said in a flat voice.

"A young woman – Rinoa Heartilly."

"I'll take a hundred thousand Gil upfront and another hundred thousand after the job is done," Soren explained.

"No way!" Hamilton protested loudly.

"Keep your voice down, you moron," the other man said, standing up to leave.

Worth Hamilton turned bright crimson in anger. He certainly wasn't accustomed to being addressed in such a manner. "Where are you going?" he asked, his voice quavering.

"I'm leaving. It's non-negotiable."

"Wait, wait," the heavy set man pleaded.

Reaching inside his suit jacket, he pulled out his wallet that was filled with large denominations of Gil.

"Put that away," Soren said harshly. "Meet me in the alley out back in five minutes."

The mercenary left the bar. Five minutes later, Worth Hamilton, with flashes of fear and excitement racing through his body, looked around the alley confused. He couldn't see the other man anywhere, until Soren stepped out of the shadows.

"God! You scared the crap out of me, say something why don't you?"

The fat man reached into his wallet and pulled out a hundred thousand Gil. He handed it to Soren who could see there was lots more Gil where that came from. Martin stashed the money in his back pocket.

"I want no comebacks," Hamilton said. "No witnesses."

"There won't be any witnesses."

"When it's gonna happen? I need to be with somebody so I have an ironclad alibi," Worth said.

"Now," Soren Martin said.

Before the fat man could respond in surprise, the mercenary slipped behind him. He wrapped his left arm across and around Hamilton's neck firmly and pressed hard with the heel of his right hand against the man's head until the spinal cord cracked. **SNAP! **

In the silence of the night, it sounded as loud as a gun shot in Soren's ears. Martin dropped the dead man into the accumulated filth of the alley. Even though he knew there were thousands upon thousands of Gil in Hamilton's wallet, Soren made no effort to steal them. After all, he wasn't a thief… And he didn't kill women.

New scene

Edea entered their apartment without warning.

"Oh," Cid said in surprise.

He had been sitting in front of the television with his head buried in his hands. The set was on, but the sound was muted.

"Edea," he said, standing up.

Neither made a move toward the other.

"How are you?"

"Fine," Edea said. "And you?"

"I'm good."

"Cid, I'm sorry to have worried you. I received word that Galbadia might be planning to abduct me so I needed to escape in a hurry. The White SeeD just happened to be there and offered to take me to Shumi Village. I was going to contact you once I arrived, but I foolishly left my cell phone behind. You know the Shumi only have one cell phone which they use only in a life and death situation. In fact, they easily lose them in their huge hands. It would have been extremely rude for me to ask them to use it. Actually I never thought I would remain there that long."

Edea realized her husband appeared very doubtful, but he said, "Of course. I understand completely. You're going to stay here now, aren't you?" Cid asked, a touch of pleading in his voice.

"Why would you think that?" Edea said firmly. "What's changed? Aren't countries still demanding that I be turned over to them?"

Cid opened his mouth to answer, but his wife continued. "I refuse to be responsible for provoking an attack against the Garden. Now don't ruin our one night together before I have Selphie return me to the orphanage."

Edea reached behind her and did something to her dress which caused it to plummet to the floor. She was left attired only in black underclothing and not much of that. Cid's breath caught in his throat and it was all he could do to not moan aloud.

_I have no pride, _he thought mournfully. _But she is still so beautiful and I love her so. _

"Come to your wife, Cid," Edea murmured softly, holding her arms out.

Later, Edea lay in the crook of Cid's arm, while he snored lightly. The dark-haired woman hated being so duplicitous, but she felt as though she still owed him matrimonial rights. She also thought that her husband would become certain that some thing was seriously wrong if she were no longer interested in making love. Edea planned on being gone in the morning before Cid awakened.

New scene

"Shall we leave?" Robin Sheridan asked. "You look tired."

"Yes, it's been a long day," Rinoa agreed.

It was past two in the morning and her friends had left before midnight. Zone was across the hall, talking animatedly with some bureaucrats. He never seemed to grow tired. Rinoa managed to catch her cohort's attention and pointed to the front door and then waved goodbye. Zone waved back and mouthed the words – 'I'll call you tomorrow.'

After acquiring her evening wrap, Robin escorted Rinoa from the hall. The young man was going to drive her home in his car since she had dismissed her chauffeur hours before.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Rinoa gushed, when they approached the young man's automobile.

It was a replica of arguably the best automobile of all time – _the Deling Roadster. _It had a extra heavy golden chassis, running boards, a rumble seat, a retractable roof and a fold up hood. Rinoa knelt on one knee on a running board. She traced the emblem on the driver's door with her fingertips, almost reverently.

"This is considered a classic. If it were an original, it would be sixty years old and worth hundreds of thousands," Robin said.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed the young man staring at her legs. Rinoa then realized that by kneeling she had driven her cocktail gown up to the top of her thighs and she quickly stood.

_Are all men pervs? _she thought as she stared at Robin.

_Yes, thank Hyne, _Shiva said.

It was then Rinoa remembered that Selphie insisted on Rinoa junctioning Shiva for protection – now that there might be some wacko out there with a grudge against the government who could be looking to harm her.

_Squall isn't, _Rinoa insisted.

_Yes, _Shiva agreed. _That's why he's so boring. _

Robin felt himself blushing from being caught out. As he helped Rinoa into the car, he thought, _Should I apologize? No, it will just make things worse. _The only thing that was said on the short ride to Rinoa's house was when the song _Wild Horses _was played on the car radio.

"Oh, I love this song," Rinoa said.

Robin walked the dark-haired woman up to her front door.

"Thank you for allowing me to escort you," he said, smoothly.

"Thank you for asking me, I had a wonderful evening."

Robin bent down and kissed her fully on the lips.

"Good night, then," he said.

"Oh," Rinoa murmured in surprise.

When he pulled away from the curb in his _Deling Roadster, _he waved and spoke loudly. "I'll call you to set up a meeting about what we talked about tonight."

Rinoa stood in shock and watched him drive off. She was holding two fingers over the electric touch from his kiss on her lips.

_Oh, that wasn't right, was it? _she thought. _Do I have to tell Squall? But it felt nice to have someone notice me. _

_Don't be stupid, _Shiva said. _Don't tell Squall – that's nothing but trouble. _

"Listen," Rinoa spoke aloud. "Do not offer me your opinion unless I ask you something directly."

_Alright, alright – a little touchy, aren't we? _

_In fact, I've never had a kiss feel so electrifying. I think you had something to do with that, _Rinoa accused.

Shiva's normally beautiful expression slipped into an obvious pout. _I would never do such a dishonest thing. Where is your trust? _

"Yeah, sure," the young woman said sarcastically as she slipped into her house and turned off the porch light.

New scene

Dr. Kadowaki hurried into the clinic's front office and noticed Squall standing there.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You're not hurt again, are you?"

"No, I'm fine," he said. "But what's this?" Squall said, waving at the TV.

"What? Rinoa's election celebration?"

"What are you talking about?" the young man asked, not really believing what he just heard.

"Rinoa ran for and won a seat on the Timber City Council." She looked at him more strangely than usual. "I thought everyone knew. This is old news."

"I've been away on a mission."

"Oh, that explains it," Dr. Kadowaki said. "They're gonna have an inauguration ball for the mayor and the new councilmen in a couple of days. I'm certain, now that you're back, that Rinoa will want you to attend it with her."

_Oh Hyne! _Squall thought. _I hate that stuff. _

Not failing to note that the doctor was watching for his reaction, he pasted a sickly grin on his face. "I'll be looking forward to it," Squall muttered. "I'm going to go catch some sleep."

On his way to his room, he stopped at Rinoa's room again and left her the gift he purchased for her in F.H. – a CD with the song _Wild Horses _on it.

_She at least could have left me a note letting me know where she was. I know she couldn't call me. Oh well, she was probably busy. _It was then that Squall suddenly remembered his dream that Rinoa was in Timber and it struck him as very eerie. He wondered if it had anything to do with their knight – sorceress connection. _I need to ask Rinoa what she thinks, _Squall thought, as he drifted off to sleep.

New scene

A few hours later, Rinoa was awakened by the incessant ringing of her phone and the constant banging on her front door. _Oh my God! What is it this early? _she thought, as she glanced at her alarm clock.

She slipped out of bed and pulled on her blue robe over the minimum of clothing she was wearing. She had been so tired when she retired the young woman had eschewed changing into her pajamas. Staggering out to the living room where her phone was lying on an end table, she picked it up.

Before punching in the cell phone, Rinoa shouted at the front door, "Please wait a minute! I'm getting dressed." After she said "Hello" into the phone, she heard a man say, "Rinoa, this is Zone. Don't answer the door."

"Wha'?" she said, by now thoroughly confused. How did Zone know there was someone at her door?

"Rinoa," he said patiently and slowly, as if speaking to a young child. "The Timber Militia is at your door. Do not allow them in your apartment. Tell them you will met them at their office with your attorney in thirty minutes. Tell them you have been instructed by your attorney to not answer any questions without him present."

"But –" Rinoa said.

"Go now!" Zone interrupted. "And then talk to me again."

The young woman carried the cell phone with her to the front door.

Speaking loudly in order to be heard over the din of their knocking, Rinoa asked, "Is this the Timber Militia?"

The banging on the door immediately stopped.

"Yes, Ms. Heartilly," a deep voice answered. "This is Sergeant Thomas. Please let us in, we need to speak to you about a matter of the utmost importance."

"My attorney has instructed me that we will meet with you in your office in thirty minutes."

"Ms. Heartilly, please don't make this difficult. Let us in."

"My attorney has instructed me to not answer any questions unless he is present. I will be at your office in a half an hour," Rinoa said, now more firmly.

"Okay, Ms. Heartilly. I'm going to take you at your word. If you're not telling the truth, we'll be back with an arrest warrant."

"I'm not accustomed to lying," the young woman said acidly.

Hearing their retreating footsteps, Rinoa returned her attention to the phone. "What's going on, Zone?" she demanded.

"We don't have time for that. Get ready and meet Robin out front in ten minutes."

"Robin? Why's Robin coming?"

"He's your attorney."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that he's a lawyer."

"Get ready!" Zone reiterated and then hung up.

_How rude! _Rinoa thought.

Ten minutes later she was waiting on the sidewalk in front of her house. Rinoa was wearing a white blouse and a knee high black skirt. She didn't have time to apply makeup and only ran a brush through her hair. The young woman barely appeared presentable and certainly not fashionable by any stretch.

Robin pulled up in his roadster with a screech of brakes. He began to exit his side of the car and Rinoa waved him off and climbed in. The young man handed her a styrofoam cup of coffee.

"Be careful," he warned. "I got it from McShumis so you know it's boiling."

Rinoa laughed and said, "Yeah, why do they make their coffee so hot?"

"Some day a lid is gonna come off and the coffee will scald somebody badly, and I want to be there to handle the law suit," Robin said. "Thanks for being ready, and by the way, you look great."

"Oh, come on," the dark-haired woman protested. "I've got no makeup on and my hair's a mess."

"Well, you look beautiful to me," the blond said.

_Oh, he's hot for you, _Shiva said.

_Please be quiet and I'm going with Squall – you know that. _

Robin broke in and said, "Who are you talking to?"

"Talking?" Rinoa said. "I wasn't talking."

"No, not out loud, but you were communicating with something. Does it have to do with your sorceress powers?"

"You're very perceptive," the young woman said. "Um, I'll explain it to you sometime. For right now, what the heck is going on?"

"It has to do with Worth Hamilton," Robin explained.

"What has the slime ball done now?" Rinoa asked, feeling irked.

"He's been murdered."


	15. Chapter 15

Wild Horses 

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

Rated M

Final Fantasy VIII characters and locations from said game are owned by Square-Enix.

Chapter Fifteen

A/N - New scenes are connoted by the first two words of the paragraph being in bold, capital type.

Rinoa was sitting on an ancient folding chair that appeared to be in danger of collapsing at any moment. Robin sat beside her. Glancing around the office, the dark-haired woman saw that amenities were rather on the primitive side. The only thing up to date was a small computer that sat on a side table. Paint was peeling off the walls and there was a hanging calendar that was a year out of date.

They were sitting in front of a stained and dented gray metal desk. There were several old green file cabinets crammed full of files from past cases. The name plate on the desk read – Sergeant Desoto. The young attorney realized that their being made to wait was for the purpose of exerting even more pressure on the extremely nervous Rinoa.

He also assumed that the office was wired for sound and he not only had remained quiet, but also had waved Rinoa off when she turned to speak to him. Suddenly the office door in the wall behind the desk opened and a man of middling height walked in. His age appeared indiscriminate (somewhere in middle age) and he had an open, friendly face. His black hair was curly and his suit appeared rumpled beneath the gray raincoat that he wore open.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, folks. I was on the phone with my wife, you know how that is. By the way, Ms. Heartilly, my wife would be thrilled to have your autograph."

Before Rinoa could even respond, the officer had pressed on. "My name is Sergeant Desoto and I'm in charge of the – let me see." Here the Sgt. looked at the file he was carrying. "Oh yeah, the Worth Hamilton homicide."

He stood behind his desk, foregoing the use of his chair. "Now Ms. Heartilly, where were you between ten pm and midnight last evening,"

Rinoa answered, her voice quivering. She hated it what she became this nervous, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"I was at my victory celebration in the reception hall at the Timber Hotel."

"Victory celebration?" the man said. "Had you won some kind of contest?"

Rinoa began to turn her head to shoot a frustrated look at Robin over such stupidity. He sensed rather than saw her and he gently touched the inside of her knee to caution her. The attorney realized the officer just loved to plead ignorance so he could sit back and watch people's reactions. Of course, all of this did not escape the attention of the Sergeant and a small smile formed on his lips.

Rinoa caught the hint and said, "No, I won a seat on the city council yesterday.

"Oh yes, of course you did," the investigator said jovially and then offered a short, mirthless laugh. "How foolish of me. Congratulations, by the way. How many people would you say saw you there between ten pm and midnight?"

"About two hundred," Rinoa answered.

"You can get me a list of these people?"

"Yes, we'll send you a copy of the guest list, as soon as possible," Robin said.

Momentarily reading from a small note book he was holding, Sgt. Desoto said, "You're connected with Balamb Garden, aren't you?"

"Well, tenuously so. I'm not a member and I don't go to class there."

"What's your connection then?" the older man asked.

Rinoa flushed at the embarrassment of explaining. "Squall Leonhart is my boyfriend."

"Oh yes, I remember now. Where was he yesterday?"

"I have no idea," Rinoa admitted.

The militia man arched an eyebrow at that. "Why's that? Wasn't he with you celebrating your victory?"

"He's been away on a mission. I haven't seen him in quite awhile."

"When you see him next, tell him I need to talk to him. I understand some of your friends attended the reception last night?"

The young woman now realized the investigator was well versed in the facts from the evening before and was impressed that he had learned so much in such a short time.

"Yes, they did," Rinoa reluctantly admitted.

"How late were they there?" the sergeant asked.

The dark-haired woman said, "They left a little before midnight."

After Rinoa had given the investigator their names and he had written them down, he said, "I guess that's all for now."

As Rinoa and Robin stood up, Sgt. Desoto cautioned, "Of course, it goes without saying, don't leave town suddenly without informing me."

As they turned to leave, the investigator stepped forward and said, "Oh, just one more thing."

Rinoa and Robin returned their attention to him. "Were you aware that Worth Hamilton was going around town threatening you with grievous bodily harm?"

The young woman flushed in anger to learn of this, but kept her voice even when she answered. "No, Sergeant, I hadn't heard anything about that."

"Okay, I guess that's it – oh, just one more thing. At one time, you were head of the guerrilla group – _The Forest Owls?"_

"Yes, I was."

"Would you say that you were trained in hand-to-hand combat skills?"

Rinoa felt as though she just wanted to scream in frustration and at the very least to have Robin instruct her not to answer such an insinuating question, but he remained mute by her side. _What is he implying? That I broke Worth Hamilton's neck?"_

"Ms. Heartilly?" the sergeant said. "If you don't feel comfortable answering, just tell me."

Rinoa sighed and said, "No, that's not it. Yes, I would say that I was trained in such skills."

"Thank you. I'll be in touch and I will also attempt to keep you abreast of any progress in the case," Sergeant Desoto said.

"Thank you, Sergeant, we appreciate that," Robin said.

_Oh sure, now he's got something to say, _Rinoa thought unfairly.

Once they were out in the hall, the young woman said, "Whew! I never thought – "

"Shhh!" Robin cautioned, holding his forefinger up to his lips. "Outside," he said cryptically.

Now standing on the sidewalk in front of the Militia administration building, the young man said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, but the walls have ears in there. I assume they have recording devices all over the place."

"Isn't that illegal without a specific court order?"

Robin laughed and said, "Yes and they do it anyway. It's only illegal if they get caught. You did very well up there."

"Thanks, I thought I was gonna lose it a couple of times. He doesn't really think I killed Worth Hamilton, does he?"

"No, I don't think so. He just likes to shake some trees and see what falls out. I bet Squall will shake his tree back."

"Squall?" Rinoa said. "You think he'll want to talk to Squall?"

"Certainly, Squall will be his number one suspect."

"But no one even knows where Squall is," the young woman said.

"Doesn't matter, even if Squall is on the other side of the world, the Sergeant will think Squall did it somehow. At least, until he's convinced that it's impossible."

_**I'M AMAZED**__ he asked to see me, _Squall thought, in the early morning.

He was standing in front of Cid's desk where he had just been summoned.

_There's no use me asking him to sit down, _Cid thought. "Have you heard about Rinoa?" Cid asked.

"Yes."

"I would like you to go to Timber and possibly help look into things."

"You want me to look into Rinoa winning an election?" Squall blurted out.

"No, no, no," Cid said excitedly. _Why is talking to Squall always so difficult? _the headmaster thought. _Is he being deliberately obtuse?_

"I'm talking about Worth Hamilton being murdered."

"Who's Worth Hamilton?" Squall asked.

"Oh lord," Cid said. "This is gonna take awhile to explain. Why don't you sit down?"

"I'm fine, sir.

_Good grief, _the older man thought. _Now he's made me forget I wasn't gonna ask him to sit down this time and start all that nonsense again._

Cid explained the situation as concisely as he could, beginning with the physical altercation between Rinoa and Worth Hamilton at the Timber Chamber of Commerce meeting. When he mentioned Laguna's role in the debate scenario, Cid noticed Squall grimaced at the sound of his father's name, but the headmaster wisely chose to ignore it.

"To wrap this up, Worth Hamilton was murdered between ten o'clock last evening and midnight."

"So what's going on?" the young man asked.

"They are asking for our assistance in the investigation."

"They are?" Squall said in surprise.

"I know what you're thinking," the older man said. "Of course the man in charge – a Sgt. Desoto – will have to clear you from any involvement in the crime, but after that you'll be okayed to work with them."

"Why do you think they want our help at all, sir?"

"Because politically speaking, it's a real hot potato and a very high profile case. They don't have much experience in homicide investigations and they want to appear to the rest of the world that they're doing all they can to catch the murderer. Worth Hamilton still had many business connections with men in Galbadia and Timber, some legal and many questionable."

Squall was surprised and impressed by Cid's astuteness. "That makes sense, sir. I'll get started on it right away."

Cid stood up as if to emphasize his point. "No," the headmaster contradicted. "Edea told me you were on the edge of exhaustion. I want you to do nothing today, but rest.

Squall flushed and said, "But –"

"Nothing but rest, that's an order," Cid interrupted.

"Yes, sir," Squall said.

"And Squall, I just want you to know I'm in your debt in locating Edea."

_Please don't do this, _Squall pleaded in his mind.

"If I had just known the White SeeDs had taken her to Shumi Village, I wouldn't have been so worried."

_No they didn't – They were looking for her at the orphanage, _Squall thought. _She's lying. I wonder why she would lie to Cid. No, I don't. I don't wonder about it at all – in fact, I don't know anything about any of this and what I do know, I'm going to forget as soon as possible. What do they think I am – a marriage counselor?_

Squall finally noticed that Cid was looking at him in some alarm.

"Squall, are you okay?"

"Um, I'm fine, sir. Thank you, I'm going to my room now."

The commander left the headmaster's office as quickly as possible – and immediately met Xu in the corridor.

"Squall," she said. "How are you?"

"Awful."

"I hear you, that's why I'm glad I'm going to Trabia Garden for at least two days. I'm leaving in a few minutes."

"You are?" the young man said. "Does Cid know?"

"Of course, he gave me permission," Xu answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Cid just told me to take the day off."

The female commander laughed and said, "He probably forgot. I imagine he's going to rescind that order."

"Say hi to Quistis and tell her I think she made the right decision."

"Will do and Squall – take care."

After Xu left, Squall stood and waited for the elevator. _You know, you'd think Rinoa would contact me for some support in this murder situation. But I guess our knight – sorceress bond is weakening. I bet that slick looking blond haired guy has moved in on her. She always did have a thing for that type. Plus he's probably trying to offer her full service, _he thought cynically.

_I'll kill her if you want, _Diablos said.

_Oh, just be quiet. That's just wrong, _Squall retorted.

_I'm not wrong or right, it's just my opinion._

_I didn't ask for your opinion, _the young man said.

_Since when can't we give our opinion? _Diablos demanded.

_Since never, not one time did I ever tell you, you had a right to tell me your opinion. Bahamut, shut this guy up._

_Ow! _Diablos complained. _Ouch! Ouch! Quit pinching me – I hate that._

_Then be quiet, you heard the young master._

_Ouch! Stop with the pinching. Ever since you started watching that GF Whisperer show, you're always pinching me._

_Both of you – be quiet! _Squall said forcefully. _Or I'll unjunction the lot of you._

Squall knew he was being unfair in his feelings concerning Rinoa, but he had little experience with appropriately dealing with emotional pain in his relationship with her. He honestly thought allowing himself to feel hurt by her was unmanly, although he was very okay with feeling and sharing impatience with her.

On his way through the atrium, Squall saw Selphie on the opposite side, quite a distance away.

"Welcome back, Squall!" she screamed at him, causing practically everyone present to stare at him. He flushed heavily, greatly embarrassed. _Why does she still insist on acting like she's twelve years old? _Squall thought.

_I should go over and tell him about Rinoa, _the green-eyed SeeD thought. _And let him know how upset and sorry she was that she couldn't reach him to tell him about running for the council seat. Oh well, he probably already knows and I'm late for meeting everyone at the Ragnarok. I'm sure it will be fine._

If Selphie had only known how much heartache and misunderstanding this decision would cause Squall and Rinoa, she would have made Hyne himself wait until she talked with Squall. Instead both she and Squall hurried on their separate ways, she to the outside parking lot and he to his bedroom to escape the staring curious eyes.

Thirty minutes later, Squall was lying on his bed when the inter-Garden loud speakers announced, "Squall Leonhart, report to the Headmaster's office immediately. I repeat – Squall Leonhart, report to the Headmaster's office."

Squall grinned to himself and quickly repacked his carry bag with fresh clothing and slipped from the Garden without as much as a bye your leave.


	16. Chapter 16

Wild Horses

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

FF VIII characters and locations are owned by Square-Enix

Rated M

Chapter Sixteen

New scenes are connoted by the first two words of the paragraph being in bold, capital type.

Now completely exhausted following the intense adrenaline rush during her interrogation by Sergeant Desoto, Rinoa could barely keep her eyes open during the ride provided by Robin back to her abode. He, himself, was extremely tired also and it was all Robin could do to just drive carefully, much less make any small talk.

After the young man pulled up in front of her house, Rinoa turned to him and smiled. "Thank you for everything you've done," she said.

Robin laughed and said, "You'll get my bill in the morning, but you're welcome."

He began to open his door and the young woman gently touched his arm. "Don't," she said. "It's so late, please just wait until I've gotten inside."

Rinoa wasn't certain, but she felt as though she had struck a nerve as Robin's smile faded for a few seconds.

"Surely," he said. "I would never do anything less, as far as you're concerned."

_You go girl_! Shiva whispered.

Rinoa resisted her immediate reflex to chastise the GF, although she did plan to give a good talking to Shiva as soon as they were alone.

"Thank you," the young woman said graciously as she stepped out of the auto.

"I'll call you tomorrow – I mean later today, if I hear anything."

"Okay," Rinoa said, flashing a tired smile before turning and walking up the front walk to her house.

After unlocking her front door and opening it, Rinoa quickly slipped inside and then looked out. She waved at Robin and he returned it before driving away.

"God, I'm tired," the young sorceress complained, slightly staggering toward her bedroom.

_Yeah, me too._

"Please be quiet and no more talking to me when we're out in public unless I 'speak' to you first."

_Yes, your mighty mistress,_ Shiva said sarcastically.

Rinoa was so fatigued she refused to rise to the bait and after reaching her bedroom, she pulled her outfit off quickly and left it laying on the floor. She slid beneath the bed covers and… immediately fell wide awake.

_I did kill him_, Rinoa thought morosely.

_What are you talking about_? Shiva demanded. _You didn't have anything to do with it._

_Please be quiet and yes I did,_ the young woman insisted. _It all began with setting him up at the Chamber of Commerce meeting. What if I had just shined him on? He'd probably still be alive. I caused his death. He had friends, he must have had family – people who loved him. Sure, he was a crook. Does that mean he deserved to be killed in the back of a filthy alley?_

_You've killed plenty before,_ Shiva interrupted. _Why the angst_?

_Yeah, we killed a lot of soldiers – both Galbadians and Estharians, we killed anyone or anything that got in our way_, Rinoa answered bitterly. _I hated it then and I still hate it – hey! I asked you to please be quiet._

_And they call Quistis the ice queen, I think they have the wrong person,_ Shiva retorted.

That remark did manage to bring a quick smile to Rinoa's lips. _Well, I might as well get up. I'm wide awake_.

The sorceress discovered Angelo whining at the front door.

"I know girl, alright, but don't get caught by dog control and be discreet – okay? And be back in fifteen minutes."

After releasing her pet and personal guardian, Rinoa sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. There wasn't much in the way of all night programming in Timber, so the young woman put on the Timber News Channel. That turned out to be a large mistake. Of course the headline news was the murder of Worth Hamilton. Rinoa quickly began changing channels, she finally found a paid program advertising _Shumi Big Oven Mitts_.

_Oh well_, she thought. _It's better than listening to myself think._

Sometime during the program, Rinoa lay down on the couch and then finally fell asleep. The dark-haired young woman suddenly woke from her sleep with a shudder. It took her a few seconds to orient herself that she had fallen asleep in the living room and someone was knocking on her door. Rinoa jumped up and ran to it.

"Who is it?" she called out.

"It's Robin, I've got coffee and doughnuts.

Just as the young beauty began to unlock the door, Shiva pointed out, _Rinoa, you're not dressed to properly receive visitors_.

"Oh Hyne," Rinoa whispered. "Just a minute," she called out.

"Okay," Robin said graciously. "Take your time."

The young woman ran into her bedroom and picked up the first thing she saw laying over a chair and slipped it on. It was a beautiful satin shorty robe.

_Uh, Rinoa_, Shiva began to say.

"Be quiet!" Rinoa commanded. "In fact, go into unconscious mode. I'm tired of listening to you."

The ebony haired woman quickly returned to the living room and opened the door. Robin did well not to gasp at her apparel, although the young woman was certainly decently dressed – almost.

_God, she is so beautiful_, he thought. _What's wrong with this Squall character? If she belonged to me, I'd never leave her side._

"Come on in," Rinoa invited. "I finally fell asleep watching TV. And thanks for bringing provisions," she said, with a big smile.

**IT WAS** just past nine o'clock in the morning in Balamb as Squall stood waiting in the nearby countryside waiting for the taxi he had summoned via his cell phone. Even though spring was approaching quickly, the air off the nearby sea was crisp and chilly. Squall was glad once again that his jacket was so warm.

Slightly less than an hour later he was on the train to Timber. Upon arrival he checked into the Timber Hotel and then had a quick lunch at the hotel coffee shop. While he ate, he perused the Timber newspaper he had purchased on his way through the lobby.

Even though he already knew about Rinoa's election victory, it still came as a shock to see a picture of her on the front page. She was standing at a microphone, obviously making her acceptance speech. Why was she on the front page instead of the mayor? he wondered.

_Well, that's a stupid question_, he thought cynically. _No doubt she's much better looking than him and they do know what sells newspapers_.

Suddenly seeing the picture of Rinoa filled his heart with the ache he had been denying the entire time he was on his mission. Squall still had a means of compartmentalizing his emotions easily. The only problem with that was sometimes he experienced great difficulty with reopening the different compartments that he had shut down.

The normally taciturn young man impulsively decided to bypass his required visit to the Militia Administration building and instead attempt to track Rinoa down. After all, the sergeant in charge of the case wasn't expecting him until the next day.

Slightly less than thirty minutes later, Squall was standing in front of Rinoa's front door. Even though his celebrity could often be a pain, sometimes it worked to his advantage. He was almost always instantly recognized and people would go to great lengths in an attempt to help him. Squall only had to ask the hotel staff to discover that Rinoa had left a forwarding address.

**RINOA WAS** sitting slightly sideways on the couch conversing with Robin and showing quite a bit of her long legs due to the shortness of her robe. She didn't need Shiva to tell her Robin's eyes kept slipping downward.

_Well, what's wrong with flirting a little? _she thought. _I put this on by accident because I was rushed and half asleep, but it would look insulting to him if I suddenly insisted on changing at this point. Anyway there's nothing inappropriate about this robe. It's just a little shorter than the ivory cocktail gown I wore last evening._

The young blond man was experiencing extreme difficulty with concentrating on the conversation, he was feeling so overwhelmed by Rinoa sitting so close to him.

_I'm half in love already. I think I want to marry this woman. She's beautiful, intelligent, has a great sense of humor and best of all – she's a fighter._

"Well?" Rinoa asked.

"Uh, what"? Robin almost babbled. _I'm embarrassing myself. I've got to get a grip._

"Haven't you even been listening?" the dark-haired woman said, mockingly pouting.

"I plead the right to not self incriminate myself," the young man said, smiling.

"I asked you if you were missing work."

"Oh, I didn't have any court appearances today so I had my receptionist call and reschedule all my appointments for later in the week. I just figured you could use some moral support about now."

"How sweet of you," Rinoa said.

The young attorney blushed.

Oh my god, he's actually blushing. Maybe I've gone a little too far here. I better wrap this up before he gets the wrong idea.

Before she could decide what tactic to use to extricate herself from the situation, a knock came upon the door.

"Who can that be?" Rinoa asked. "I really don't want to talk to any press right now.

"I'll get it," Robin volunteered, standing up from couch and walking to the front door.

"Only let Zone in," the young woman said.

"Okay," the blond haired man said, opening the door… to be immediately confronted by the overpowering presence of Squall Leonhart standing several inches from him. Even though Robin was significantly taller than him, he felt dwarfed by Squall's total aura.

The taciturn young man was scowling at Robin, although his tone was noncommittal when he said, "I'm sorry, I might be at the wrong house. I was lead to believe that Rinoa Heartilly lived here."

_Oh no_, Rinoa thought. _He's never gonna understand this_.

"Uh, uh," Robin stammered.

Angelo was standing behind Squall and chose that moment to race into the room barking, adding even more confusion to the situation.

"I'm here, Squall!" the sorceress called out, quickly stepping up from the couch.

"I'll be in touch, Rinoa," the young blond man said, as he quickly stepped out the door past Squall.

"Squall, when did you get back?" Rinoa asked. "And please come in and shut the door. I'd rather not be a spectacle any longer."

"Oh – oh yeah," Squall murmured, as he complied with her request.

Squall stood just gazing intently at her.

"Squall, what is it?" she asked, with the feeling of fear forming in the pit of her stomach.

Rinoa assumed Squall was so furious over the presence of Robin, plus her attire that he would just turn around and walk out of her life altogether.

"You look so different, so natural," he said.

_What the heck is he talking about_? _Oh no_! the young woman realized in horror. _I forgot I still hadn't put on any makeup or even fixed my hair. No wonder Robin kept staring at my legs – he couldn't stand to look at my face_.

Now it was Squall's turn to be perplexed with the young woman's expression.

"Rinoa, what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing other than your 'natural' look is me without makeup or even brushing out my hair."

"I don't know about that, but you look beautiful to me," the young man murmured.

Squall couldn't have said anything that was more perfect, as far as the young sorceress was concerned.

"Oh, Squall, I've missed you so," Rinoa said, her heartache quite evident in her voice.

She finally moved toward him by literally throwing herself into his arms. Squall caught her easily, never allowing her feet to hit the floor while he spun her around in his arms. They ended in embrace, their young bodies fitting perfectly together. At last Rinoa felt some relief for her shattered nerves, while Squall realized he was finally home.

The young woman broke their cinch by reaching out and clasping the young warrior by his hand. She gently lead him to her bedroom and shut the door. She had decided it wasn't any of Angelo's business.


	17. Chapter 17

Wild Horses

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

FF VIII characters and locations are owned by Square-Enix

Rated M

Chapter Seventeen

New scenes are connoted by the first two words of the paragraph being in bold, capital type.

Timber

Squall and Rinoa lay in bed, the top sheet pulled up circumspectly to almost their shoulders. Rinoa was intermittently dozing, but she finally managed to turn her head on the pillow and smile at Squall.

"That was wonderful," she said. "Welcome home, lover."

Squall responded with a sound that was somewhere between ugh and huh.

_Well, he's really back now_, Rinoa thought.

Squall sat up suddenly, the sheet falling from his bare, well developed chest.

"I brought you back a present from my mission. It's on your bed back at the Garden."

Rinoa couldn't have been more shocked than if a Thrustaevis had just flown into the room. Never could she remember Squall giving her a present.

"Thank you, Squall," the young woman finally managed to say. "But why didn't you just bring the present with you?"

"I left in a hurry and didn't even think of it."

"Oh," Rinoa said, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"If you want to talk about that," Squall said, his voice suddenly growing serious. "Why couldn't you have, at least, left me a note that you were moving to Timber? I never knew anything about you wanting to enter politics."

With hurt and frustration flowing through her, Rinoa suddenly sat up, her corresponding half of the sheet also falling down. Squall sensed an argument beginning and felt that his lover was already taking an unfair advantage.

"In the first place, when I left the Garden, I had no idea I was going to stay here. I thought I was coming to Timber for a couple of days while you were gone," the dark-haired woman said edgily. "Besides I told people where I was going."

"Who were all not at the Garden when I got back," Squall answered, tension present in his tone also.

_That's right_! Rinoa thought. _All of our friends were at the reception. That's not my fault_!

"It's my fault you couldn't call me the entire time you were gone?" the young woman accused.

Now feeling both frustrated and defensive, Squall said impatiently, "Why would I call? I couldn't tell you anything about the mission."

"You could have at least let me know you were okay and I could have told you what I was doing."

"Whatever."

"Whatever – perfect," Rinoa said sarcastically. "That's always your word, Squall, isn't it - when you no longer want to deal with something?"

Now furious, Squall said, "Okay, let's deal with this. Who was that clown who was here when you were laying around in a sexy nightgown?"

"His name is Robin Sheridan and he's my attorney. He came over to cheer me up after being interrogated rather rudely in the middle of the night – and it was not a sexy nightgown, it was just a robe."

"Boy, that's a big difference, Rinoa. I don't remember you ever entertaining visitors wearing a bed robe before." Squall actually snorted as he arose from the bed and began to search for his scattered clothing.

The young sorceress physically ached at the sight of him leaving. Squall had only just arrived and now he was leaving.

"Squall, please. Don't go. I thought you would stay here with me as long as you're in town," Rinoa entreated, with a slight sob in her voice.

Continuing to dress, he said, "I can't do that, it would reflect badly on you in your new position. Remember, this is more than you sneaking into my room in the Garden. And besides, I'm here to help the Militia investigate the case. It would look like the worst possible political collusion if I stayed here with you."

"You are?!" Rinoa said, in great surprise. "Why didn't you say anything about it before now?"

Squall offered a lightly rueful grin. "You didn't give me much of a chance."

He was now completely dressed and preparing to leave. Rinoa arose from the bed and grasped him firmly in her arms in an extremely strong embrace. Squall was actually frightened that if Rinoa had had a bit more adrenaline flowing through her she might have cracked one of his ribs.

"You better stay in touch or I'll send Angelo after you."

"I will," he said softly. "I'll come by tonight late."

They kissed lightly and Rinoa stepped back.

Squall looked her up and down and said, "You better not see me out."

"Funny, Squall. You finally make a joke and you're leaving."

_Who was joking_? he thought, confused.

"I'll call you if I can later," he said.

With that Squall walked out, leaving Rinoa standing with tears rolling quietly down her face. The young woman felt foolish, she realized Squall would return; although she only believed this intellectually. Her emotions were another matter. Rinoa felt as though something important had just been lost between them and may never be found again.

_That's stupid_, the young sorceress thought. _What am I doing_? _Everything is fine_.

Rinoa suddenly remembered one thing that wasn't fine, she had forgotten to inform Squall of the inauguration ball on the following evening.

_I should have told him right away so I'd have enough time to wear down his saying no._

Rinoa knew Squall as if he were an open book. _Or maybe it was closed_, she thought sardonically. First he would say he didn't have his dress uniform and there wasn't enough time to have it delivered here.

_I need to call the Garden and have them send it by special courier, _the young woman realized.

Second Squall would say he didn't want to wear his uniform and he couldn't wear a suit from a clothing store because buying it off the rack would look cheap and tacky. Next when Rinoa would suggest that the tailor could alter the suit specifically to give him a better fit, Squall would say he couldn't afford it. This from the man who not only saved every Gil he ever made, but would squeeze it until he could hide it somewhere; besides Cid would be delighted to hear that Squall was representing the Garden at a formal affair and would gladly show his appreciation by paying for a suit.

_He should have a good suit anyway_, the young woman thought. _He always uses that as an excuse to get out of attending anything._

Retrieving her cell phone from her striped, cloth handbag, she called the Garden.

Suddenly Shiva said, _Ooh la la_, _I love your new look_.

"Please be quiet, I'm on the phone. Yes, hello, this is Rinoa Heartilly, I need to speak with the headmaster."

**TRABIA GARDEN **

Irvine crooned into the hand held microphone;

_I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie._

_I have my freedom but I don't have much time_

_Faith has been broken, tears must be cried._

_Let's do some living after we die._

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away._

_Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day._

Sara had managed to insinuate herself into the band as a tambourine player. While she pranced beside Irvine, Selphie sat in the back with the drums, laying the basic beat behind the intricate playing of the drum machine. Zell was playing lead guitar, Quistis was rhythm guitarist and Kasumi stood playing the keyboard. As the last notes were played, Xu, Kaede and Tony, who were standing in front of the band, applauded enthusiastically. Selphie jumped down off her stool and walked around the drum set.

"Okay, that sounded great. I think we're about ready to perform. We already have the other numbers down cold. Let's plan the concert for the afternoon to go into the evening after Quistis and Tony come back from Trabia," Selphie said. "It's so great that the F.H. workers finished the building of the recreation auditorium."

"What else are we going to do?" Kasumi asked.

"We're going to have a lot of food and hold a dance," the green-eyed SeeD said.

"That's a good idea," Zell said. "Let's have plenty of hot dogs!"

"Alright, Zell, we'll have plenty of hot dogs," Selphie said tiredly, while Kasumi winced embarrassedly at what she thought was Zell's one track mind.

Quistis had stepped over to Xu and the headmaster.

"You all were great," Tony said.

"Yes, I think this is a wonderful idea to raise morale," Xu complimented.

"It was Quistis' idea," the young man said, his eyes shining.

"Well, it really was all Selphie," Quistis pointed out.

"Quistis is so modest," Tony said to Xu.

When the headmaster turned his head for a few seconds, Xu cut her eyes toward Quistis and smiled knowingly. The straw-berry blonde offered a slightly rueful expression in return.

"Is it my imagination or are Sara's skirts getting shorter and shorter?" Tony said.

Quistis glanced over to Sara who was twisting around, back and forth, talking to Irvine. It was quite obvious that the young blonde had been doing some homemade hemming on her skirts.

"I think you're right, but what are you doing noticing that?" Quistis said.

Xu laughed while Tony coughed slightly. "I need to keep a close eye on all the students," he said.

"Oh, sure you do," Quistis said good naturedly, but she couldn't help noticing that Selphie was glaring angrily at Sara who was so obviously flirting with Irvine. _Uh oh, trouble brewing right here in River City_, she thought.

**MUCH LATER** in the evening, after Quistis said good night to Tony, she met Xu in front of her tent.

"You're going to stay here in our tent," Quistis said.

"Fine," the female commander said. "I want you to know Selphie has been very discreet back at the Garden."

"Well, that's nice. But what in the world are you talking about?"

"Oh, I think you know," Xu said.

Quistis laughed and said, "Yes, I know and I'm relieved."

"Are there any more like him up here?" Xu asked. "He's beautiful."

"Nope, sorry, he's one of a kind."

"Darn it, I'll never meet anybody at Balamb Garden." This was a familiar lament from Xu when she spoke with Quistis. "Is there anywhere we can talk?" Xu asked. "I've got some hot gossip to tell you."

"Oh, great," the straw-berry blonde said and then laughed. "Yeah, they keep coffee going in the dining tent all night for the midnight staff. Let's go over there."

**IT WAS **exactly five o'clock am when Quistis clasped her belt closed and then pulled on her winter coat. She had chosen to wear her old outfit from the time of fighting Ultimecia, which emotionally carried her back to then. Even though it had been terrible, it had also been a time of greatness… and also the time of the closeness and the camaraderie among the six young warriors; something she felt sadly that had been lost. Quistis looked down upon the slumbering Xu and decided not to wake her. The young woman felt as though she had covered all the main spots of the work responsibility as headmaster with her cohort the night before.

"I'm awake, you know," Xu said softly, so as to not wake any of the other inhabitants of the tent.

"I should have known," Quistis said, smiling. "You never were one to miss anything."

Xu attempted to sit up and her old friend stopped her by placing a hand on her.

"Don't get up, it's too early. You won't have any problems and you have Kaede to help you. By the way, thanks again, Xu."

"No problem and Quistis …"

"Yeah?"

"You have a good time with Tony, you deserve it."

Quistis slightly stiffened. "We're going to interview possible instructors, not have a good time."

"Go peddle your fish somewhere else, kiddo."

Quistis laughed and said, "I never could fool you. If you need us, give me a call on my cell phone."

"Will do, but I can't imagine that."

**TONY AND** Quistis were seated in the Land Rover headed northwest. Despite the heat being on, they both were still dressed in their heavy winter coats because it was so cold outside that it took a long time to heat up the vehicle.

Next stop – City of Trabia

Wild Horses 

(M. Jagger/K. Richards).


	18. Chapter 18

Wild Horses

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

FF VIII characters and locations are owned by Square-Enix

Rated M

Chapter Eighteen

New scenes are connoted by the first two words of the paragraph being in bold, capital type.

Squall stood stoically in the Militia sergeant's office in front of the desk. He had been already standing there for several minutes. Behind the door, Sgt. Desoto peered through a tiny hole, which allowed him to see the entire room.

_Oh, this guy's good, I bet he knows I'm watching him_, the officer thought.

The taciturn young man felt his skin crawl, always a sure sign that he was under close scrutiny from somewhere. He knew exactly from where a moment later as the Sergeant opened the back door behind the desk and stepped into the room.

"Good morning, Mr. Lionheart, thank you for coming in," the Militia man said.

"That's Leonhart," Squall corrected, in a flat tone.

Glancing at the file he was holding, Sgt. Desoto said cheerfully, "Yes, of course it is, sorry about that."

"Whatever."

"May I call you Squall?"

"No," Squall said.

"And you can call me, Sergeant Desoto," the older man said, not missing a beat. "Would you like to sit down?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Do you have any idea why you were called here today?"

Squall nodded his assent.

After several seconds, the sergeant realized Squall wasn't going to elaborate.

"That's right, the murder of Worth Hamilton," the criminal investigator answered, as though the young man had offered a verbal explanation.

_This guy is a trip_, Squall thought. _And not necessarily a good one_.

"I imagine you're assuming that I'm going to intensively question you in an attempt to prove that you could have accomplished the murder – at least, time wise."

Squall shook his head, although this time he spoke. "I try to never assume… anything."

A quick smile sprang to Sgt. Desoto's lips and then disappeared. _This kid is sharp_.

"Yes," the older man said slowly. "I can see that… now."

The sergeant stood silent for well over a moment. Squall stood before him, appearing completely relaxed.

"Yesterday I went over to the Garden in Balamb," the Militia man finally spoke.

Squall looked on noncommittally.

"By the way, your headmaster was rather perturbed that you couldn't be found anywhere."

A small smile appeared on Squall's lips for a few seconds before leaving without a trace.

"I spoke with anybody and everybody who you had contact with on the night you returned and I know without a doubt that you couldn't have committed the crime. There just wasn't enough time."

"That's nice," the young man said.

"Aren't you relieved?" the Sgt asked, slightly frustrated at Squall's response.

"Not particularly, I knew I hadn't done it, and I knew, sooner or later, that you would figure that out. Can we cut to the chase now?"

Sergeant Desoto laughed. "Cut to the chase? Is that a pun?"

Squall offered a real smile for the first time.

"Okay," the Militia man agreed. "Let's cut to the chase. I need to reach an understanding with you before we begin. Anything that you discover, you report to me – no matter what it is and no matter who it involves. In this case, I'm the decider. Is that agreeable?"

"No," Squall said firmly. "I will decide what I tell you and when I tell you."

Desoto said, "I wouldn't have believed you if you had said otherwise. But remember, I will find out who did it. This is my career, to you – it's just another mission."

Squall felt as though the sergeant was challenging him to disagree, but he made no response to the provocative statement, choosing to totally ignore it.

"What do you want me to do first?" the young man asked.

"This man Watts, who works for Ms. Heartilly – he is conspicuously missing."

"I'll speak with Zone," Squall said.

Sergeant Desoto arched an eyebrow. "He wasn't very cooperative with me on the subject," he said.

"He hates me, but he'll tell me in order to help Rinoa," Squall replied.

As Squall left the Militia Administration building, he was positive that he would be able to locate Watts. He also knew he probably wouldn't discover anything of importance from him related to the murder, but that it didn't matter. Squall had a sinking feeling that he already knew who the murderer was and he also realized that he would never turn him in.

**INSIDE THE** still freezing Land Rover, Quistis was concentrating on not allowing her teeth to chatter. She considered it to be embarrassing, to say the least. She was particularly grateful that Shiva wasn't junctioned. Whenever temperatures dropped too low, it was impossible to keep Shiva from popping out sporadically – even when not called upon.

Of course with Ifrit, it was just the opposite. When temperatures fell past freezing, he wouldn't come out – even when summoned. More than likely, he'd be off somewhere shivering. The young woman finally managed to speak without sounding completely frozen.

"How much further?" Quistis asked.

Tony laughed and said, "I can't believe it. We've only been on the road for a half an hour. We've got a long way to go yet."

"No, I mean how much longer until the heater starts working. I'm freezing to death."

"Oh haha! – not much longer," he said.

Feeling extremely comfortable with Quistis in the moment, he impulsively reached out and gave her a quick hug.

"I love you," Tony said.

His simple words seemed to reverberate and echo in the sudden silence in the vehicle. Quistis sat completely stunned. Of course, the young woman had entertained the feeling that it might – might, mind you – be love, but she hadn't even framed the thought in her mind, much less be prepared to speak it aloud. The longer the silence grew, the more pressure was placed on the young woman. She understood this much – that Tony was waiting for her response, and the longer she took, the more hurt and uncertain he would become. Quistis had to do or say something, and she had to do it now!

In an attempt to temporarily postpone the inevitable, she leaned forward and snapped on the radio. The young woman immediately heard:

I watched you suffer a dull aching pain

_Now you decided to show me the same_

_No sweeping exits or offstage lines_

_Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind_

"I'm sorry, Quisty, to spring it on you that way."

"What?' Quistis asked astonished.

"I said I was sorry."

"No, no, not that. What did you just call me?" she said.

"Um, Quisty, is that alright? If it isn't, I won't do it again."

"Did somebody tell you to call me that?"

"What?" Tony said, looking at her strangely. "No, of course not – why?"

"You never heard that name before today?"

"Not that I'm aware of," he answered.

"Then why did you call me that?" Quistis asked so brusquely that it was practically a demand.

"It just seemed so natural to call you that. Why?" Tony asked again.

"Because only my closest friends know to call me that," she explained. Quistis bestowed a beautiful smile on him and said, "I love you too."

She wanted to laugh out loud, but of course didn't, at Tony's very audible sigh of relief. As Tony gazed adoringly at her, Quistis grabbed the steering wheel and guided the Land Rover away from the snow bank they were headed in the direction of and back on to the road.

"But let's keep our attention on driving," she said.

"What? Oh yeah, sorry," Tony said, returning his concentration to his driving. "We shall fly to Trabia City on gossamer wings," the young man recited.

_Oh lord,_ Quistis thought ruefully. _What have I done_?

**SELPHIE STOOD** impatiently by the Ragnarok waiting for the party she had brought from Balamb. She finally spotted Zell and Irvine strolling toward her.

"Come on, you all! I promised Cid we'd be back early," Selphie called out.

She noted with some satisfaction that they did increase their pace, but Selphie actually preferred to see a flat out sprint.

Upon reaching her, Irvine said, "Then you'd better get Kasumi and be on your way."

"What exactly does that mean?" Selphie asked archly.

Irvine glanced at Zell and Zell nodded to him. "Zell and I have decided to stay up here and see what we could do to help. I mean, we're not scheduled to do anything in Balamb this week, so we thought everyone would be better served if we stayed up here."

Selphie was always extremely suspicious of anything to do with altruism on Irvine's part, but initially, she failed to see a flaw in this, except for – "Hey, shouldn't you get permission from the headmaster to do this?"

Irvine chuckled and said, "Xu talked to him this morning. He thought it was a great idea."

"What's a great idea?" Kasumi asked, after walking up to her friends.

Zell said, "Uh…well, you tell her, Irvine."

"Zell and I are going to stay up here for the next couple of days to help out and then return with Xu. What'd you think?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Kasumi said in a flat voice, while glaring at Zell.

Irvine noticed his friend finally had to break eye contact with her and glance away. He had turned deathly pale. _That boy is sure enough whipped,_ the cowboy thought.

"We'd better get going, we're going to be late as it is," Selphie said.

After watching the Ragnarok obtain lift and then successfully complete takeoff, Zell said to Irvine, "Free at last, free at last."

Irvine laughed and said, "I know that's right."

**THE GIANT** ship had been in transit for a few minutes when Selphie suddenly asked, "What's up, Kasumi? Why so quiet?"

"What do you think about them volunteering to stay up there? Am I being overly suspicious to think they're up to something?"

"Well, not really," Selphie admitted. "I'm kinda suspicious what Irvine is doing myself. It's just not like him to volunteer for work like this. This may not be any of my business and tell me if it isn't, but things seemed a little tense between you and Zell."

"Yeah," Kasumi said, and then sighed deeply. "He just doesn't seem to be getting the hints I put out. As for any kind of moves that he's doing, we might as well be brother and sister."

"Boy, I wish I had that problem for a change," Selphie lamented. "Irvine is constantly hitting on me to take the relationship to a new level – as he puts it."

"Careful what you ask for," Kasumi warned. "Am I not attractive enough for Zell?"

"Oh, I'm sure that's not it. After all, the boy's not blind and you're beautiful. I think it's just that he's still so painfully shy."

"And the way he always goes on about hotdogs – it's so embarrassing and the whole thing just gets on my nerves."

"That's just Zell, don't pay any attention to it," Selphie suggested.

"I don't know, but it just might be time for me to move on," Kasumi said, thoughtfully.

_Oh no_, Selphie thought, greatly alarmed. _I'd better have Irvy talk to Zell right away_.

Wild Horses 

N. Jagger/K. Richards


	19. Chapter 19

Wild Horses

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

FF VIII characters and locations are owned by Square-Enix

Rated M

Chapter Nineteen

New scenes are connoted by the first two words of the paragraph being in bold, capital type.

Trabia City

Tony drove the Land Rover into Trabia City in the early morning fog. It was still somewhat difficult to see, but they could discern that the fog was beginning to dissipate and would probably be gone by midmorning.

"Shall we go ahead and check into the hotel?" Tony asked.

Appearing completely nonplussed, Quistis said, "The hotel? I thought we were staying at your father's."

"We are, but I don't know about you, but I'd like to get cleaned up a little and rest some before we go over to his office and begin interviewing people." And then Tony winked at her.

Quistis laughed softly and said, "Yes, I think I would like to _rest_ a little myself."

The young man parked the Land Rover in the nearest available parking space, midway in the lot. There was no such thing as valet parking in the wilderness of Trabia. Tony carried both small suitcases with ease and when they approached the front of the hotel, some quick movement to her left attracted Quistis' attention.

As she turned her head, she observed Raijin and Fujin disappearing around the far corner of the huge building. Shocked, the young woman froze in her tracks. _What are they doing here_? she thought, flabbergasted. Literally doing a double take, when Quistis allowed a closer look, whoever it was, was gone.

Tony, after taking a few more steps, finally realized that his lover was no longer by his side. He turned back to her and asked, "What is it? Something wrong?"

"No," Quistis was quick to say and shake her head. "Nothing whatsoever, I just thought I saw someone I knew."

_Whatever are they doing here? Is this where they've been hiding all this time? Is Seifer with them?_ Quistis ruminated, as the young couple entered the Trabia Hotel.

**"AW HELL,"** Raijin said, at the side of the large building they had just exited after spending the night.

"WHAT?"

"I just saw Trepe going into the hotel."

"NO WAY!"

"Yes way, ya know. And I think she saw us."

"UNFORTUNATE."

"Yeah, ya know, and get this. The guy she was with looked just like Seifer."

"LIES."

Raijin laughed and said, "No, no, I didn't say it was him."

Fujin suddenly kicked Raijin smack center in the left ankle.

"Ow!" Raijin howled. "What'd ya do that for?"

"POINT."

"Yeah, ya know, I just said the guy looked a lot like Seifer. He was even wearing a long gray coat like Seifer, but it was just a trench coat. But what's she doing up here?"

"I don't think we should tell Seifer," Fujin advised.

"Why, ya know?" Raijin said.

He wasn't used to Fujin being so erudite.

"It'll just worry him, plus he gets so strange when you mention Trepe."

"Yeah, okay, ya know," Raijin replied.

**TONY HAD** checked them into the Trabia Hotel under assumed names. The hotel staff never asked for identification. They were used to their clients requiring anonymity. The young man wanted to avoid anyone in Trabia knowing he was in town yet, particularly his father.

After entering their hotel room, Quistis observed in a glance that the room certainly was nothing fancy. It basically held a double bed and a night stand. _Check in under an alias and now this room – I feel like I'm now on a secret mission_, Quistis thought. She did have enough insight to realize that in a sense she was.

"Well, it's not much, but it's all ours for the next few hours," Tony said and then laughed.

Quistis said, "At least it's got heat, so we're ahead of the game."

Tony laughed and agreed. "I see there's no closet," he pointed out.

"So what's the big deal? We're not staying that long," Quistis said.

"Well, I hardly want to wrinkle my clothes on the bathroom floor."

The young woman laughed and said, "What? You're a blushing flower now? Undress in here."

"Well, it's a lot different in the broad daylight, when you're still dressed."

Quistis giggled and said, "Get over yourself, hand me your clothes and I'll fold them carefully and lay them on the bed."

"I guess you're right," Tony agreed reluctantly.

The blond man first removed his trench coat and black boots. He then unbuckled his belt. Quistis began to loudly hum the well known tune that was often used as stripper music.

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

"Nope, and hurry up. I want to use the shower too."

Tony dropped his black trousers and stepped out of them. He handed them over to Quistis without looking at her. She folded them carefully and placed them on the bed beside her. He then removed his blue shirt and did the same, still without establishing eye contact with the young woman.

Before Tony could act further, Quistis reached over from where she was seated on the bed and suddenly yanked down his gray military shorts.

"Hey!" he protested, quickly cupping his hands over himself.

"I can't believe it," the strawberry-blonde said. "You're blushing."

"You're being really bad," he accused, turning his back to her.

Quistis swatted him on the behind and said, "Go take your shower. And don't use all the hot water."

The only way to describe Tony's next movement was to say he scampered into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

As soon as Quistis heard the shower running, she removed her outfit and folded it carefully and laid it on the bed. She sat in her undergarments pensively for a few minutes and then thought, _Oh, what the heck_. She removed the rest of her attire and walked to the bathroom and quietly entered.

Pulling the shower curtain aside, she stepped in behind him. Sliding her arms up under his, she pulled him to her.

"I love you so much," Quistis murmured.

"I only have one thing to ask you," Tony said. "What took you so long?"

**ZELL AND** Irvine struggled with lifting a wall framing to where it needed to be positioned. Sara flitted around them; supposedly offering encouragement, but actually just inhibiting their effort by being in the way. After accomplishing their task, and positioning it in the proper place, Irvine wiped the perspiration from his brow, while Zell took a short break.

"What next?" Sara asked jubilantly.

Irvine glanced tiredly at her and said, "Why don't you get Zell and me a cold drink, hopefully something high in caffeine."

"Your wish is my command," Sara said. "I shall return," she said and then scurried off in the direction of the newly half constructed cafeteria.

"She's very energetic," Zell said, offering Irvine a wink. "I don't think personally I could handle all that energy."

Clapping the excitable SeeD lightly on the upper back, Irvine said, "That's because you're so easily intimidated by the opposite sex."

"What do you mean?" Zell asked, somewhat irritated.

"Come on, Zell. You're way too shy. You let Kasumi lead you around by the nose."

For a moment, the muscular blond man appeared that he was considering responding with an insult, but instead he said, "Yeah, you're right. But I just seem to get so tongue tied. And then she's always ordering me around. I'm afraid if I don't, she'll dump me."

"Well consider this," Irvine replied. "If you don't start standing up to her, she'll dump you for sure. Women think they want a man who they can push around, but they really don't. Eventually Kasumi will lose all her respect for you and drop you anyway."

"Hmmm, I don't know, but I'll think about it."

"You do that, but don't wait too long," Irvine warned.

Sara returned carrying two large ice coffees, handing one to each of the young men.

"Hmmm, that's good, Sara," Irvine said, tasting his.

"Yeah," Zell agreed. "Thanks, Sara."

"You're most certainly welcome," the petite blonde said, bowing slightly.

After finishing their drinks, Zell asked, "What's next?"

"I think they need some more framing in the cafeteria," Irvine explained.

"Okay," Zell said, sighing. "When's lunch anyway?"

Sara laughed and said, "Oh, about three hours from now. I could go get you a couple of hot dogs, if you want."

"Oh man! That'd be great."

"I'll meet you in the cafeteria building," Sara said, dashing quickly off.

Irvine's eyes followed her as she left the immediate environment.

"She seems like a nice girl," the blond SeeD commented.

"Yeah," Irvine said, sounding slightly distracted. "Very nice."

"Come on, let's get going," Zell said.

**IRVINE AND** Zell had just entered the partially built cafeteria building carrying the framing when Sara came running in holding a plate full of hot dogs.

"Here guys, I'll set them over here," the young woman said, bending over and placing the plate on the ground.

As Sara had bent straight over rather than bending her knees and lowering herself as most young women would have done if wearing a short skirt, Irvine caught a second's glance of a mostly bare bottom covered by the absolute minimum of a thong.

_Whoa_! he thought. _I'm beginning to like this place_.

Zell, who was straining with holding up his half of the framing, complained, "Hey! Quit daydreaming and help me with this."

Sara turned and smiled serenely at Irvine, before leaving the half built building.

"See you later, Irvine," she promised seductively.


	20. Chapter 20

Wild Horses

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

FF VIII characters and locations are owned by Square-Enix

Rated M

Chapter Twenty

New scenes are connoted by the first two words of the paragraph being in bold, capital type.

Timber

"Good to see you again, Squall," Zone greeted, standing up from behind his desk in his office.

He automatically held out his right hand, only to suddenly remember who he was dealing with. He covered his motion by acting as though he was wiping his hand on his shirt.

"Won't you sit down?" Zone asked, indicating a chair in front of his desk.

"No, I'm fine,"

_Of course you are,_ Zone thought sardonically. "I know you're not much for small talk, so what can I do for you?"

"I'm helping the Militia to investigate the Worth Hamilton murder," Squall answered.

_Just a little conflict of interest there, huh_? Zone thought sarcastically.

He continued to look at Squall waiting for him to get to the point.

"I need to talk to Watts," Squall finally explained.

"Why, may I ask?"

"He's been conspicuously missing since before this all got started and he usually has some intelligence input into most everything that happens in Timber."

"That's true," Zone agreed. "Okay, this is ultra-secret and I'm fully expecting you to act like a professional. We received advanced warning that Galbadia was thinking of reinvading Dollet. Watts went there to see what he could ferret out about this situation. I can give you something written that will confirm to our allies in Dollet that you are to be trusted. That's the best I can do. I haven't been in contact with Watts for days."

Zone quickly scribbled the note and handed it to Squall.

"Good luck on your search," he told Squall.

"Thanks," Squall said and stuck out his right hand.

Zone, very surprised, almost completely froze until he remembered to take it in hand and shake it.

Squall said, with a slight grin, "I'll try to pick you up a copy of The Girl Next Door."

_This guy really is trying to change. I thought Rinoa was trying to BS me when she said he was loosening up some_. Zone flushed deeply and finally offered his thanks, but warned him not to get in any trouble with Rinoa over it.

Squall smiled ruefully and admitted that he had experienced some difficulty with her when Rinoa discovered Squall had been carrying the magazine around with him when she had been in a coma.

"When I find Watts, I'll get word back to you about what he's discovered."

"Thanks," Zone said. "I'd appreciate that."

With that, Squall left the office.

**SELPHIE WAS** piloting the Ragnarok high above Fisherman's Horizon headed on the way to Esthar. Rinoa was seated next to her.

"Are you sure Cid gave his permission for us to do this?" the dark-haired woman asked.

"Of course he did," Selphie answered, sounding rather indignant. "Do you think I would just take it?"

Rinoa looked at her close friend with a grin and said, "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Selphie laughed and said, "Alright, maybe I have _borrowed_ it a few times, but those don't count."

"And why is that?" Rinoa asked.

"Because I didn't get caught."

Both young women laughed heartily and then Selphie added, "Besides, how else are you going to get to Esthar?"

"Well, I might have taken the train from F.H."

"Yeah, and that might have taken you so long, you wouldn't be back in time for the Inauguration Ball. I so wish I could go," Selphie said wistfully.

"I wish you could go too. I bet Irvine would have enjoyed it also. I always love to see him in a tux with his cowboy hat and boots."

"Oh, Irvine couldn't go anyway, he's at Trabia Garden."

"He is?" said a surprised Rinoa.

"Yeah, so is Zell," the green-eyed SeeD further elaborated.

"What in the world are they doing there?"

"Supposedly helping repair the Garden, but with those two, I really don't know what they're up to."

Rinoa chuckled and said, "Probably no good."

"Yeppers," Selphie agreed. "I don't suppose Squall is real crazy about the idea either, is he?"

"I never really got the chance to bring the whole thing up. We were together for so short a time yesterday."

And here Rinoa's voice faltered as she remembered the painful scene that preceded his leaving. Selphie sensed something seriously was amiss, but allowed her friend the space to gather herself.

The young sorceress sighed. "And then he didn't come by last night like he promised," she added regretfully.

"I'm certain you'll hear from him today," Selphie said, attempting to help her obviously distressed friend.

In a panic, Rinoa suddenly started rooting around in her black purse.

"Oh no!" she said. "I forgot to bring my cell phone. It's in my other bag."

**SQUALL STOOD **outside the front door of Rinoa's house, completely certain by this time that she wasn't at home. He pulled out his cell phone and pushed the button that corresponded with Rinoa's number.

_I must be hearing things,_ he thought perplexed. _I swear I can hear her phone ringing inside the house_.

After five rings, her message clicked on – _Hi, this is Rinoa. I'm unable to answer the phone right now. Please leave a message after the beep and I will return your call as soon as possible_.

Squall hated having to leave a message with a passion. He didn't realize he was intimidated by the whole procedure.

Beep – "Uh, Rinoa, this is me – I mean, it's Squall. I came by your house, but I guess you're not home. I have to go to Dollet for a couple of days as part of the investigation – sorry. I'll try to call you from there." Then in the form of a post script, he mumbled, "I love you."

The young hero quickly disconnected the call and walked down the sidewalk to the taxi that he had kept waiting. Climbing in, Squall said, "Lanker Plains Beach."

"Yes sir," the driver said, putting the car in gear and pulling into traffic.

**SELPHIE STOOD** waiting outside of a dressing room in the most exclusive dress shop in Esthar, _Vanity Fair_. Rinoa brushed the curtain aside and the dark-haired beauty stepped out wearing a strapless velvet dress that appeared spectacular on her. It had a front slit with a chocobo feather hemline. The entire ensemble was completed with detached long sleeves with elastic upper arms and feather cuffs.

"Oh, you look darling!" Selphie exclaimed.

The young sorceress smiled her thanks and then walked over to a full length mirror. Rinoa stepped back after viewing her appearance that was reflected from the mirror. The dress fit her like second skin and she was extremely pleased with her appearance. A sales personnel was hovering around her, after all this was a very expensive item. Rinoa justified the price in her mind with the insistence that it was very important that she look her best for this important political occasion.

With Squall at her side in his dress SeeD uniform, Rinoa was confident they'd be the best looking couple present.

"Okay," she said to the young sales clerk. "I'll take it. Do you accept _Shumi Express_ cards?"

"Certainly," the young woman assured her.

Rinoa returned to the dressing room to attire herself in her original outfit.

**SELPHIE WAS** piloting the Ragnarok over Fisherman's Horizon on their return trip to Timber. Rinoa had borrowed her friend's cell phone and was busy checking her messages. As the young sorceress listened, the brunette SeeD grew instantly concerned when tears began to roll down Rinoa's face.

"Rinoa, what is it?" Selphie asked excitedly, always fearing the worse.

Instead of answering, the dark-haired woman began to sob and she drew her arm back as though she was going to throw the cell phone until she remembered it wasn't hers.

"Rinoa, tell me what's wrong," Selphie pleaded.

"It's Squall," she managed to say between her tears.

"What about Squall? Is he hurt?" Selphie absolutely refused to think of anything worse than Squall experiencing a bad injury.

"He can't go with me tonight. He's gone to Dollet without even having the decency to tell me in person."

"I'm so sorry, honey," the green-eyed SeeD expressed, touching Rinoa on the left arm. "Maybe Irvine can go with you, he's presentable looking. I could swing by Trabia Garden and pick him up."

"No offense, Selphie, but I'm fully capable of getting my own date. I'm not a charity case, you know."

Her friend watched in fascination when it appeared that Rinoa willed herself to cease crying and her expression became very distant.

"To hell with Squall Leonhart, I don't need him. I can take care of myself. Can I use your cell phone again?"

"Sure, you know that you can use it as much as you need," Selphie assured her.

Selphie realized that whoever Rinoa was calling, she had already memorized the number because she didn't consult her Phone/Address book. It took about two minutes for the connection to go through because of the present position of the communication satellite high in the atmosphere.

"Yes, hello," Rinoa said. "This is Rinoa Heartilly, may I please speak with Robin Sheridan? Yes, I'll hold."

In an aside to Selphie, Rinoa said softly, "I'm lucky, Robin's in his office." Suddenly Rinoa's attention was redirected to her call. "Hello, Robin. I have a problem, Squall has suddenly been called out of town and I'm dateless for tonight. Do you have any suggestions?"

Selphie watched in wonderment at the new aggressive Rinoa, who was currently grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Oh, you will?" Rinoa said, actually managing to sound surprised. "Yes, I accept. Can you pick me up around seven? Great, see you then. And Robin… thanks a lot, you're a life saver. See you then."

Rinoa clicked off the cell phone and placed it on the floor. "Well, that takes care of that," the dark-haired woman said triumphantly. "I told you I can take care of myself."

Selphie sat with her mouth agape. For once, she had nothing to say.


	21. Chapter 21

Wild Horses

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

By Robert Dogwood

FF VIII characters and locations are owned by Square-Enix

Rated M

Chapter Twenty-One

New scenes are connoted by the first two words of the paragraph being in bold, capital type.

City of Trabia

Tony and Quistis, now freshly showered and somewhat rested, had just climbed into the Land Rover and turned it on when his cell phone signaled he had a call. Lifting an eyebrow at Quistis, because he hoped it wasn't the Garden calling already with a problem, he clicked it on and said, "Hello?"

"Master Gerard, thank god! We've been trying to reach you for over an hour, where have you been?"

"I'm sorry, Jenkins. I must have had my phone turned off. What seems to be the problem?"

Tony glanced over at Quistis and whispered, "Jenkins, my father's butler."

_Your father has suffered a brain aneurysm and has been rushed to the hospital. He's currently in Intensive Care and is in critical condition_.

"Oh no," Tony gasped.

Quistis was alerted that something was terribly wrong more from the expression of fear and shock on her lover's face than his words.

"I'm on my way," Tony said into the cell phone.

He then clicked it off and pressed his foot down hard on the accelerator, quickly leaving the parking lot and onto the highway, reaching dangerous speeds almost immediately.

"Tony, what's wrong?" Quistis asked, now greatly alarmed.

"I think my father's had a stroke. He's in the hospital."

"I'm so sorry," the young woman said, placing her hand on his right arm.

He roughly shook it off, saying, "Let me drive."

Quistis tried hard not to feel hurt at his reaction. _He's upset, who wouldn't be_? She thought, even though she couldn't relate to the possible loss of a parent. Quistis had never had a parent to lose.

"I should have been with him," the blond haired man accused himself. "Instead we were… We were…"

This cut through the young woman like a sharp knife. _This isn't Tony, he's just so worried about his father. _Taking a corner at too high a rate of speed, they nearly sideswiped a passing bus.

"Tony, slow down," Quistis pleaded. "It won't help your father if we get in a wreck."

"That's easy for you to say," the young man retorted. "It's not your father."

Quistis realized that Tony's pallid complexion, rapid respiration and dusky lips, signified that he, himself, had entered a state of shock.

"Tony," the young woman said softly. "Pull over and let me drive, you're in shock."

"I'm fine," he snapped. "Plus we're almost there."

After this, Quistis decided it was safer to not distract the young man any further from his driving, but to remain alert to possibly having to wrench the steering wheel from him to avoid an accident. Fortunately it turned out that Tony had spoken the truth and a moment later, he was wheeling the Land Rover into the circular driveway in front of Trabia General Hospital.

Just barely ramming the vehicle into park, before leaping out, Tony yelled back at Quistis, "Park and then meet me at Intensive Care."

The head master sprinted up the sidewalk and into the hospital. The strawberry-blonde was partially successful with concentrating on her concern for Tony and his father, and less on the hurt she was feeling over the shabby way he had treated her. Quistis realized that her boyfriend was fearful over his father's condition and feeling guilty because he hadn't been there with him when it occurred, no matter how irrational that might be. And yet, the manner in which he had spoken to her still rankled within her. _After all,_ she thought. _Politeness always counts_.

**QUISTIS STOOD** waiting apprehensively outside the Intensive Care Unit. She had come directly there after parking the Land Rover. Only members of the family were allowed inside, but Quistis had hope that Tony would soon come out with good news..

Upon her arrival outside of ICU, Quistis met a man who introduced himself as Percy Weatherbottom. He appeared to Quistis to be middleaged and prosperous. He had straw colored hair and was extremely well-dressed, although he was beginning to show signs of growing pudgy around the waist. Mr. Weatherbottom informed her that he was one of the vice presidents at the Bank of Trabia.

"Have you ever met Tony's father, Ms. Trepe?" he asked.

"No, I never have, I was hoping to meet him today," Quistis answered.

"Yes, yes, of course."

After a few moments of silence for which the straw-berry blonde woman was grateful, the older man spoke again. "This is a darn shame – Bill, I mean Mr. Gerard is still a young man. He's only a year or two older than me."

"Yes, it surely is," Quistis agreed. _Oh, where is Tony_? she thought forlornly.

As if in answer to her silent prayer, Tony appeared. He looked very wan and emotionally wrung out. Tony stepped forward past Quistis and up to the banker and said, "Mr. Weatherbottom, how are you, sir?"

The young man vigorously shook hands with the banker. Quistis felt a sharp stab of hurt. She slightly shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of such a childish notion. _What's the matter with me_? _This is an emergency situation and I'm worried about who Tony speaks to first_.

"The question is how is your father?" Mr. Weatherbottom boomed out, attracting attention from all over and causing nurses to caution him to lower his voice.

"He's had a brain aneurysm, and currently is in a deep coma."

Quistis' hand flew up to her face in shock. _That's terrible_, she thought, but the young woman forcibly stopped herself from speaking outloud. Quistis was positive Tony wouldn't need to hear that from her.

"What's the treatment?" she asked instead.

Glancing at Quistis, the young man said, "They're giving him oxygen to stabilize his respiration and tomorrow they will go in to reduce intracranial pressure. If he's not out of the coma by the end of the week, he will probably have brain surgery."

Tony touched Quistis on the arm and said, "Mr. Weatherbottom, this is my friend, Quistis – from Trabia Garden."

_Friend_? she thought confused.

"Yes, we've already met," the banker confirmed.

"Would you excuse us for a moment? I need to speak with Quistis."

"Why certainly, my boy," Mr. Weatherbottom said expansively.

Tony steered Quistis away by firmly gripping her elbow and directing her several feet away.

"I'm terribly sorry about all this, Quistis."

"Well, of course, I am too," the young woman said. "I hope your father is going to be okay."

Quistis noticed Tony's eyes had taken on a glazed expression, as though he wasn't really listening.

"You'll need to go to the bank and interview the applicants for the instructor positions in the conference room. When you're finished, head back to the Garden. You'll have to take my place."

"But –" Quistis began to say.

"Quistis, it's my father, I have to stay here."

"Of course, Tony," the young woman acquiesced. "Sorry,"

"It's okay, I understand how you feel. All this is coming real fast at you," the young man said.

He stepped forward and kissed Quistis on the cheek. "I hope to talk to you later," Tony said. "Drive carefully on your way back."

"I will," Quistis said, in a daze.

**THE TAXI** carrying Squall braked just short of the Lanker Plains Beach. He paid the fare and left the driver a substantial gratuity.

"Thank you very much, sir," the driver said happily.

"Yeah," Squall mumbled, already concentrating on the task at hand.

The young man observed Soren Martin waiting with another man, who was obviously the owner of the small inboard motor boat that was pulled up to the shoreline. He appeared to Squall to be slightly younger than Soren, but cut from the same rough hewn cloth. He was wearing a green plaid, long sleeve shirt and work pants.

Squall quickly walked down to the shoreline holding his carry-on bag.

"This is an old friend of mine," Soren said, indicating that man standing next to him. That was all in the way of introduction. Squall nodded in greeting. Soren and Squall were soon standing on the deck of _Korey's Folly_, while the third man was headed back toward shore in his motor boat.

In anticipation of the mercenary's question, Squall said, "Dollet."

The young man pulled up the anchor on the bow and Soren did likewise on the starboard. They were soon underway with the help of the ship's engine, which would be used until a vigorous breeze developed. Squall sat on the deck close to Martin, who stood behind the wheel.

A few moments later, Squall said, "I'm helping them to look into the murder of Worth Hamilton."

The older man appeared surprised, Squall had never volunteered any information before concerning his missions.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," Martin said, his voice a study in neutrality. "Any leads?" he asked casually.

"At least one good one," Squall explained. "This Sergeant Desoto – he's in charge of the case in Timber. He seems to be fairly competent."

"That's good."

Squall was looking Soren square in the eyes. The older man stared back unflinchingly.

"A change of climate might be beneficial," Squall said.

"I'll keep that in mind," the mercenary promised.

"Yeah, good," Squall said.

**QUISTIS WAS** a couple of miles from reaching Trabia Garden. She unconsciously slowed the Land Rover, not looking forward to returning without Tony and having to explain to everyone what dire events had transpired in Trabia City. At least the interviews had paid off.

Quistis was able to hire four qualified instructors, who would begin employment within the next few days. The last scene at the hospital had been terrible, in Quistis' opinion. Upon her request, Tony had left his father's bedside and visited her in the hallway, outside of the Intensive Care unit.

"How is he?" Quistis had asked anxiously.

She recognized the young man had been crying as he had fresh tears in the corners of his eyes and that he was attempting to be brave in front of her. Quistis wished she could tell him that it was okay to cry, that it wasn't a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength: although she was afraid it would just embarrass him.

"He's the same," Tony said wearily.

"I'm sure he's going to be alright," the young woman had attempted to placate him.

"You don't know that!" Tony had said harshly.

Quistis literally rocked back on her heels she was so taken aback from his angry response.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know you mean well, everyone means well, but they just keep saying the same thing – I'm sure he'll be okay. Well, no one knows that."

A long moment of silence had passed and then the young headmaster said, "I'm sorry, you'll have to take my place – at least for the time being. I know how you felt about being in charge, but it can't be helped."

Quistis offered a rueful smile, and said, "I understand, no problem. I'll keep your chair warm for you."

Then they kissed goodbye. It wasn't a long lover's kiss, it had just been a perfunctory peck on the lips. It ended – not with a bang, but with a whimper. As Quistis walked away down the hall, she knew it was over, that Tony would never be returning to Trabia Garden. _Wild horses, indeed_, she thought with a snort. _Tamed ponies would be more apt._

Quistis pulled the Land Rover carefully into the double wide driveway, keeping a sharp lookout for any careless pedestrians. Ted and Bill playfully saluted her as she drove past and Quistis smiled in return.

Despite it all, she felt as though she had returned home.


End file.
